WegZeit

WegZeit is a quantitative measure used in routing, logistics, and urban planning to estimate the time required to travel between two points along a defined path. The term is a compound of German Weg (way, route) and Zeit (time) and is used to refer both to the concept of travel time and to a family of tools, datasets, or models that implement time-based routing.

Calculation typically sums the travel times of successive segments. Each segment time is computed as its length divided by a representative speed, which may be a fixed value, a mode-specific speed, or a data-driven estimate that incorporates historical traffic, current conditions, and sometimes weather or incidents. In time-dependent routing, WegZeit can vary with the departure time, yielding different values for different start times.

Applications include route planning for delivery fleets, public transit planning, emergency response, and the creation of isochrones that show areas reachable within a given WegZeit. It is also used in transport models to assess infrastructure performance and to compare scenarios such as lane closures or new routing policies.

Limitations arise from data quality and the inherent variability of travel conditions. WegZeit predictions may be less reliable during incidents, extreme weather, or special events, and simplifications in segmentation or model assumptions can lead to errors.

See also: Travel time, Time-dependent shortest path, Isochrone, Route planning, Traffic flow.