Migration Guide: HERE Isoline Routing API v8 to TravelTime Time Map Fast API

1. Introduction

This guide is aimed at helping a migration from the Isoline Routing API (v8) from HERE, to the Time Map Fast endpoint.

It covers the main similarities and differences between the two services, covering Features, Request Details, Response Details, and Error Handling.

For the purposes of this comparison, it is assumed that requests to the HERE Isoline Routing API are using the recommended GET method. POST requests are also available, but only a limited number of parameters can be used in the request body.

Why migrate to TravelTime?

Exceptional performance
Scaling to any size of application
Support for public transit
Fixed cost and unlimited usage, instead of transactional pricing
Permissive caching policy

2. Features Comparison

The table below covers the main features of the two services.

Feature	HERE API	TravelTime API
Maximum Isoline Size	9 hours	3 hours*
Sync / Async	Synchronous	Synchronous
Transport Modes	Car, Truck, Pedestrian, Taxi, Scooter	Car, Pedestrian, Bicycle, Public Transit
Range Types	Travel time, Distance, Consumption	Travel time, Distance**
Time of Day Configuration	Any time of day	Peak and Off Peak options
Response Formats	Encoded polyline	JSON GeoJSON WKT
Endpoint Playground	N/A	playground.traveltime.com/isochrones-fast
Support	Paid	Included in all licences
Caching	Restricted	Permitted

*Higher travel times available through the Time Map endpoint

**Distance isolines are supported through a separate Distance Map endpoint

3. Request Comparison

The sections below cover the main details of the API requests for each service, including endpoint details, authentication, and request structure.

A side-by-side comparison is provided to show how the same one hour driving isochrone can be generated using each service.

Endpoint

Feature	HERE API	TravelTime API
Base URL	`isoline.router.hereapi.com/v8/isolines`	`api.traveltimeapp.com/v4/time-map/fast`
API Version	Included in URL path (`/v8`)	Included in URL path (`/v4`)
Primary Request Type*	GET	POST

* HERE API supports POST requests, but with a limited number of parameters able to go in the request body

*TravelTime API supports GET requests through the Time Map endpoint

Authentication

Feature	HERE API	TravelTime API
Authentication Method	`apiKey` in query string OR Bearer token (JWT)	`X-Application-Id` and `X-Api-Key` headers
Required Headers	N/A	`Content-Type: application/json` `X-Application-Id: {Your_App_ID}` `X-Api-Key: {Your_API_Key}`
Optional Headers	`X-Request-ID` (used to track a request or a group of requests)	`Accept: application/json` (used to adjust the response format - e.g geoJSON, or WKT)

Request Structure

The primary difference between the request structure is that the HERE API uses GET requests, with parameters included in the query string, while the TravelTime API uses POST requests, with parameters included in the request body.

Feature	HERE API	TravelTime API
Batch Support	Limited to just multiple `range` values	Supported through an array of `one-to-many` or `many-to-one` searches
Arrival vs Departure	Determined by using either `origin` or `destination` parameter	Determined by using either `one_to_many` or `many_to_one` search
Coordinate Input	`origin=lat,lng` OR `destination=lat,lng`	`coords: { lat, lng }`
Transport Type	`transportMode=` `car /` `truck /` `pedestrian /` `taxi /` `scooter`	`transportation: { type:` `driving+ferry /` `cycling+ferry /` `walking+ferry /` `public_transport` `}`
Time of Day Configuration	`departureTime=2025-01-01T00:00:00` OR `arrivalTime=2025-01-01T00:00:00`	`arrival_time_period: weekday_morning`
Travel Time Configuration	`range[values]` `&range[type]=time` (in seconds)	`travel_time` (in seconds)
Routing Mode	`routingMode=` `fast /` `short`	N/A (routes are always optimised for the fastest)
Shape Granularity	Controlled through: `shape[maxPoints]` `optimizeFor` (both control the granularity of the shape)	Controlled through: `polygons_filter` (remove smaller separated polygons) `level_of_detail` (control the granularity of the shape) `no_holes` (fill in holes in polygons)

Request Examples

The curl examples below both show how to generate a simple one hour driving isochrone departing from a location in New York City.

These requests both include all of the required fields. Both services offer additional optional fields for tailoring the results further.

HERE Isoline Routing API Request:


curl -gX GET 'https://isoline.router.hereapi.com/v8/isolines?'\
'transportMode=car&'\
'origin=40.72511,-73.99088&'\
'range[type]=time&'\
'range[values]=3600&'\
'apiKey={Your_API_Key}'

TravelTime API Request:

curl -X POST https://api.traveltimeapp.com/v4/time-map/fast \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Accept: application/geo+json' \
-H 'X-Application-Id: {YOUR_APP_ID}' \
-H 'X-Api-Key: {YOUR_APP_KEY}' \
-d '{
  "arrival_searches": {
    "one_to_many":[
      {
        "id": "Example",
        "coords": {
          "lat": 40.72511,
          "lng": -73.99088
        },
        "arrival_time_period": "weekday_morning",
        "travel_time": 3600,
        "transportation": {
          "type": "driving"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}'

4. Response Comparison

The sections below cover the main details of the API response for each service.

A side-by-side comparison is provided to show how the same one hour driving isochrone is returned using each service.

Structure Differences

Feature	HERE API	TravelTime API
Response Formats	Encoded polyline	JSON GeoJSON WKT
Decoding Required	Yes	No
Support for Holes	Handled by `inner` array	JSON - handled by `holes` arrays GeoJSON - handled natively WKT - handled natively
Support for Multiple Disconnected Polygons	Not supported	JSON - handled by multiple `shell` arrays GeoJSON - handled natively WKT - handled natively

Response Examples

The response examples below both show a one hour driving isochrone from a location in New York City.

For the TravelTime response, geoJSON is used as the response format, but other formats are available (JSON, WKT).

HERE Isoline Routing API Response:

{
   "departure": {
       "time": "2025-05-01T07:31:54-04:00",
       "place": {
           "type": "place",
           "location": {
               "lat": 40.7251271,
               "lng": -73.9908676
           },
           "originalLocation": {
               "lat": 40.7251099,
               "lng": -73.99088
           }
       }
   },
   "isolines": [
       {
           "range": {
               "type": "time",
               "value": 3600
           },
           "polygons": [
               {
                   "outer": "BGsshxtC5xt-uEA64S2rFgjQ-lgBq3K2rFgjQAy61C0rFgjQgmgBq3K0uV0uV2rFgjQA-rgC0rFgjQgmgBq3K0uV0uV2rFgjQ1rFgjQ9lgBq3KAq3Ko9qBq9qBgmgBq3Kq3K-lgB-lgBq3K2rFgjQA0uV1rFgjQ9lgBq3K1rFgjQA0uVzrFgjQ_lgBq3KzrFgjQ0rFgjQgjQ0rF0uVAgjQ2rFq3K-lgBgmgBs3K-lgB-lgBgjQ2rF0uVAgjQ1rFq3[...]K_lgBp3Kp3KzrF_iQAzuV0rF_iQq3Kp3K2rF_iQA53gE2rF_iQ-iQ1rF2uVA-iQ61C2rFwhIAmtN"
               }
           ]
       }
   ]
}

TravelTime API Response:

{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [
        {
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "MultiPolygon",
                "coordinates": [
                    [
                        [
                            [
                                -74.66676814504899,
                                40.653876852826215
                            ],
                            [
                                -74.66441676905379,
                                40.65567800810095
                            ],
                            [
                                -74.66206539305858,
                                40.653876852826215
                            ],
                            [
                                -74.65971401706338,
                                40.65567800810095
                            ],
                            [
                                -74.65736264106818,
                                40.65567800810095
                            ],
                            ...
                            [
                                -73.28063199587632,
                                40.849302200134844
                            ]
                        ]
                    ]
                ]
            },
            "properties": {
                "search_id": "Example"
            }
        }
    ]
}

5. Error Handling

Both the TravelTIme API and the HERE API use standard http status codes, such as 401 Unauthorized and 500 Internal Server Error.

The table below details the main differences in the structures of the error response for each service.

Feature	HERE API	TravelTime API
Structude	Flat (no nesting)	Nested `additional_info`
HTTP Status Code	Outside JSON body	Included in JSON body
Root Elements	`title` `status` `code` `cause` `action` `correlationID`	`http_status` `error_code` `description` `documentation_link` `additional_info`

Error Message Examples

The response examples below show the error response for a poorly formatted JSON request, with http error code 400.

HERE Isoline Routing API Response:

{
   "title": "Malformed request",
   "status": 400,
   "code": "E605001",
   "cause": "Error while parsing request: Either one of 'origin or destination' parameter is required",
   "action": "",
   "correlationId": "b28af7be-3553-4afe-8be5-e69246e0ec08"
}

TravelTime API Response:

{
   "http_status": 400,
   "error_code": 3,
   "description": "Failed to parse json - syntax error",
   "documentation_link": "https://docs.traveltime.com/reference/error-codes",
   "additional_info": {
       "syntax_errors": [
           "Unexpected character ('\"' (code 34)): was expecting comma to separate Object entries"
       ]
   }
}

6. Next Steps

If you are looking to migrate from using the HERE Isoline Routing API to TravelTime, you’ll need to first sign up for an API key.

To help you get up and running, check out some of the links to more resources below.

Endpoint Reference Endpoint Playground SDKs Postman Collection