MapBench tool category
Routing & Travel Time Map Tools
Routes, travel times and drive-time areas. This hub groups 50 tools that answer related geographic questions while keeping the underlying method, data source and limitations visible.
Start with these tools
Choose the tool that matches the question rather than the one with the most familiar name. Related tools can use different geographic models and legitimately return different answers.
Drive Time Map
How far you can drive, bike or walk in set minutes — real isochrones.
Open tool →Driving Distance Calculator
Road distance and drive time between two places.
Open tool →Travel Time Estimator
Estimate drive time and road distance between two places.
Open tool →Running Route Planner
Plan a running route between places and see road/path distance and estimated travel time.
Open tool →Cycling Route Planner
Plan a bicycle route between places with distance, estimated time and GPX export.
Open tool →Walking Route Planner
Plan a walking route between two places with distance, time and GPX export.
Open tool →Multi-Stop Route Planner
Plan a route with multiple stops and see total distance and time.
Open tool →Isochrone Map
Reachable area polygons for chosen travel times.
Open tool →Fuel Cost Calculator
Estimate fuel cost for a road trip from distance, efficiency and price.
Open tool →Walking Time Calculator
Estimate walking time between places at a chosen pace.
Open tool →Nearest Airport
Find major airports near a location with distance.
Open tool →ETA Calculator
Estimate arrival time from distance and average speed.
Open tool →How to use this category well
Routes and isochrones come from the FOSSGIS Valhalla engine on OpenStreetMap data (OSRM fallback for driving). Durations are free-flow estimates and are labelled as such on every result.
- Add a congestion buffer to any free-flow travel time: 20–40% in peak urban areas is a sane rule of thumb, and the interface labels its times as free-flow for exactly this reason. For appointments, plan with the buffer; for physics, trust the raw number.
- Place route endpoints on roads, not rooftops. Routing engines snap points to the nearest drivable way, and a point in a river or a courtyard can snap somewhere surprising — nudging the pin to the nearest street makes results stable and explainable.
- When optimising many stops, keep the true origin first and let the engine order the rest; then sanity-check the result visually. Optimizers minimise distance, not your time windows — hard appointments still belong in manual order.
Key terms
Isochrone
The reachable-area polygon for a given travel time from a start point.
Costing model
The routing engine's mode profile (auto, pedestrian, bicycle) with its speeds and rules.
Free-flow time
Travel time from speed limits and road classes, without congestion.
Travelling-salesman ordering
Reordering stops to minimise total route distance.
Related guides & original research
Radius vs. Drive Time vs. Straight-Line Distance
Compare network travel-time models with geometric distance.
How to Choose a Meeting Point Between Places
Use route context instead of assuming the geometric midpoint is fairest.
Distance Calculation: Haversine, Geodesics & When It Matters
See why route distance and straight-line distance answer different questions.
When to verify with an official source
MapBench is designed for analysis, learning and planning. If the result affects a legal boundary, surveying, emergency response, engineering, regulated eligibility, official statistics or a financial commitment, verify the underlying information with the responsible authority or qualified professional.