Traveltime

Travel time is the duration required to move from one location to another using a specified mode of transport. It can refer to door-to-door travel time, which includes access, waiting, and transfers, or to a narrower segment such as a single road segment or a leg of a journey.

Factors influencing travel time include the distance and mode of transport, average speed on the chosen route, number of transfers or stops, waiting times for connections, and delays due to congestion, incidents, weather, road works, or regulatory constraints such as speed limits.

Travel time is often estimated or predicted for planning purposes and can also be measured directly by timing actual journeys. Units are typically minutes or hours. For planning, analysts may use travel-time matrices or isochrones to represent expected times between locations.

Reliability is a separate concept that captures variability in travel time. Planning tools use metrics like planning time index, travel-time reliability, and buffer time to account for uncertainty and to compare alternative routes or schedules.

Data and methods used to derive travel-time estimates include historical speeds, live traffic data, GPS traces, transit feeds, and crowdsourced information. Routing and logistics systems combine these data with models to forecast conditions and optimize itineraries.

Applications of travel-time analysis span urban and regional planning, transportation engineering, logistics and delivery, emergency response, tourism, and consumer-oriented trip planning. The concept underpins decision making in route selection, schedule design, and reliability assessment.