ruteplaner

Ruteplaner, or route planners, are software tools and online services that generate travel itineraries between two or more locations. They typically support multiple modes of transport, including car, bicycle, foot, and public transit, and may optimize for shortest time, fewest transfers, or lowest cost. Contemporary ruteplaner provide step-by-step directions, transfer details, estimated travel times, and maps or interchanges, with options to avoid tolls, stairs, or elevators for accessibility.

Most ruteplaner rely on a combination of timetable data, geographic data, and sometimes live information. Timetables and schedules are often supplied in standardized formats such as GTFS, while road networks come from map data sources like OpenStreetMap. Routing engines compute fastest or easiest routes using algorithms such as Dijkstra or A*, sometimes accelerated with techniques like contraction hierarchies to handle large networks efficiently. Real-time feeds may include delays, service disruptions, or vehicle locations, allowing dynamic replanning.

Ruteplaner are widely used by the public transport sector, travel planning agencies, and consumer apps. They support both single-mode searches and multi-modal itineraries, and may include accessibility information, walking distances, fare calculations, and ticketing compatibility. Privacy and data quality considerations are important, since planning relies on location data and timetable accuracy.

In Scandinavia, national and municipal authorities and private providers operate ruteplaner. Norway’s Entur and Denmark’s Rejseplanen are examples of national journey planners, often integrating multiple operators and feeds to present a unified itinerary.