Ever wonder how far you could get from your house if you drove for eight hours in any direction? I have, so I made up this google map of concentric rings of travel time from my house (and, no, it's not as time intensive as it looks). Obviously the resolution drops off as the rings get bigger and it's only roads inside the rings that obey the time restrictions, not locations off of the streets. This leads to some pretty big areas in Quebec that are included even though they could never be reached, as google maps screens out smaller roads at lower zoom levels. They really ought to continue to show roads in sparse areas. I don't really care if a road is minor if it's the only way to get to someplace! It's just a way to avoid visual clutter, after all.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Travel Time Contour Map
Ever wonder how far you could get from your house if you drove for eight hours in any direction? I have, so I made up this google map of concentric rings of travel time from my house (and, no, it's not as time intensive as it looks). Obviously the resolution drops off as the rings get bigger and it's only roads inside the rings that obey the time restrictions, not locations off of the streets. This leads to some pretty big areas in Quebec that are included even though they could never be reached, as google maps screens out smaller roads at lower zoom levels. They really ought to continue to show roads in sparse areas. I don't really care if a road is minor if it's the only way to get to someplace! It's just a way to avoid visual clutter, after all.
This is really cool! How did you do it? I would love to be able to make a contour map of the travel time by public transit to 303 Cooper Street in Camden NJ (Rutgers/Camden). I am moving there and looking for a house and hope for a reasonable commute.
ReplyDeleteJust go to Google Maps and create a new one in "My Maps" and use the "Draw a Shape" tool, setting it to have no fill color. To get the distances, I asked for directions, then moved the destination point to be on all the various roads, adjusting to get the travel time correct. Straightforward, if a bit laborious.
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ReplyDeleteI wanted to make a travel time contour map of a highway in south korea. but I couldn't find how to make, and a method. In your blog, I found very good posting about my project. thank you. I'm not good at writing english...I wish you to understand my appreciation.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the method works for you! Been many years since I used it so I wasn't sure if it had changed.
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