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Overview
Developer Tools
Travel Time Matrix API
Isochrone API
Distance Map API
Routes API
Geocoding API
Additional API Reference
Error Handling
ArcGIS plugin
QGIS plugin
Alteryx plugin
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TravelTime Ruby SDK

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Travel Time Ruby SDK helps users find locations by journey time rather than using ‘as the crow flies’ distance. Time-based searching gives users more opportunities for personalisation and delivers a more relevant search.

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'travel_time'

And then execute:

$ bundle install

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install travel_time

Usage

In order to be able to call the API, you'll first need to set your Application ID and API Key:

TravelTime.configure do |config|
  config.application_id = 'YOUR_APP_ID'
  config.api_key = 'YOUR_APP_KEY'
end

After that, you can instantiate a client to initiate the API connection:

client = TravelTime::Client.new

You can then use the client to call API endpoints:

response = client.map_info
#=> #<TravelTime::Response:0x00000001452e94b0 @status=200, @headers={...}, @body={...}

A note on Time

If you're calling an API endpoint that expects a time in "extended ISO-8601 format" ( e.g. departure_searches.departure_time), you can use the standard Ruby Time serializer:

# This require will add the #iso8601 method to Time objects
require 'time'

departure_search = {
  id: "forward search example",
  departure_location_id: "London center",
  arrival_location_ids: ["Hyde Park", "ZSL London Zoo"],
  transportation: { type: "bus" },
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  properties: ["travel_time"],
  range: { enabled: true, max_results: 3, width: 600 }
}

client.time_map(departure_searches: [departure_search])

Rate Limiting

You may specify an optional rate limit when initializing your client. The rate_limit parameter sets a cap on the number of requests that can be made to the API in 60 seconds. Requests are balanced at equal intervals.

client = TravelTime::Client.new(rate_limit = 60)

Given origin coordinates, find shapes of zones reachable within corresponding travel time. Find unions/intersections between different searches.

Body attributes:

  • departure_searches: Searches based on departure times. Leave departure location at no earlier than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches.
  • arrival_searches: Searches based on arrival times. Arrive at destination location at no later than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches.
  • unions: Define unions of shapes that are results of previously defined searches.
  • intersections: Define intersections of shapes that are results of previously defined searches.

require 'time'

departure_search = {
  id: "public transport from Trafalgar Square",
  coords: {
    lat: 51.506756,
    lng: -0.128050
  },
  transportation: { type: "public_transport" },
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
}

arrival_search = {
  id: "public transport to Trafalgar Square",
  coords: {
    lat: 51.506756,
    lng: -0.128050
  },
  transportation: { type: "public_transport" },
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  range: { enabled: true, width: 3600 }
}

union = {
  id: 'union of driving and public transport',
  search_ids: ['public transport from Trafalgar Square', 'public transport to Trafalgar Square']
}
intersection = {
  id: 'intersection of driving and public transport',
  search_ids: ['public transport from Trafalgar Square', 'public transport to Trafalgar Square']
}

response = client.time_map(
  departure_searches: [departure_search], 
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search], 
  unions: [union], 
  intersections: [intersection]
)

puts response.body

Given origin coordinates, find shapes of zones reachable within corresponding travel distance. Find unions/intersections between different searches.

Body attributes:

  • departure_searches: Searches based on departure times. Leave departure location at no earlier than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches.
  • arrival_searches: Searches based on arrival times. Arrive at destination location at no later than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches.
  • unions: Define unions of shapes that are results of previously defined searches.
  • intersections: Define intersections of shapes that are results of previously defined searches.

require 'time'

departure_search = {
  id: "driving from Trafalgar Square",
  coords: {
    lat: 51.506756,
    lng: -0.128050
  },
  transportation: { type: "driving" },
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_distance: 1800,
}

arrival_search = {
  id: "cycling to Trafalgar Square",
  coords: {
    lat: 51.506756,
    lng: -0.128050
  },
  transportation: { type: "cycling" },
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_distance: 1800,
  range: { enabled: true, width: 3600 }
}

union = {
  id: 'union of driving and cycling',
  search_ids: ['driving from Trafalgar Square', 'cycling to Trafalgar Square']
}

intersection = {
  id: 'intersection of driving and cycling',
  search_ids: ['driving from Trafalgar Square', 'cycling to Trafalgar Square']
}

response = client.distance_map(
  departure_searches: [departure_search], 
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search], 
  unions: [union], 
  intersections: [intersection]
)

puts response.body

A very fast version of Isochrone API. However, the request parameters are much more limited.

require 'time'

arrival_search = {
  id: "public transport to Trafalgar Square",
  coords: {
    lat: 51.506756,
    lng: -0.128050
  },
  transportation: { type: "public_transport" },
  arrival_time_period: 'weekday_morning',
  travel_time: 1800,
}

response = client.time_map_fast(
  arrival_searches: {
    one_to_many: [arrival_search]
  },
)

puts response.body

Given origin and destination points filter out points that cannot be reached within specified time limit. Find out travel times, distances and costs between an origin and up to 2,000 destination points.

Body attributes:

  • locations: Locations to use. Each location requires an id and lat/lng values
  • departure_searches: Searches based on departure times. Leave departure location at no earlier than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches
  • arrival_searches: Searches based on arrival times. Arrive at destination location at no later than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches

require 'time'

locations = [
  {
    id: 'London center',
    coords: {
      lat: 51.508930,
      lng: -0.131387
    }
  },
  {
    id: 'Hyde Park',
    coords: {
      lat: 51.508824,
      lng: -0.167093
    }
  },
  {
    id: 'ZSL London Zoo',
    coords: {
      lat: 51.536067,
      lng: -0.153596
    }
  }
]

departure_search = {
  id: 'forward search example',
  departure_location_id: 'London center',
  arrival_location_ids: ['Hyde Park', 'ZSL London Zoo'],
  transportation: { type: 'bus' },
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  properties: ['travel_time'],
  range: { enabled: true, max_results: 3, width: 600 }
}

arrival_search = {
  id: 'backward search example',
  departure_location_ids: ['Hyde Park', 'ZSL London Zoo'],
  arrival_location_id: 'London center',
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  properties: ['travel_time', 'distance', 'distance_breakdown', 'fares']
}

response = client.time_filter(
  locations: locations, 
  departure_searches: [departure_search],
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search]
)

puts response.body

A very fast version of time_filter(). However, the request parameters are much more limited.

locations = [
  {
    id: 'London center',
    coords: {
      lat: 51.508930,
      lng: -0.131387
    }
  },
  {
    id: 'Hyde Park',
    coords: {
      lat: 51.508824,
      lng: -0.167093
    }
  },
  {
    id: 'ZSL London Zoo',
    coords: {
      lat: 51.536067,
      lng: -0.153596
    }
  }
]

arrival_many_to_one = {
  id: 'arrive-at many-to-one search example',
  departure_location_ids: ['Hyde Park', 'ZSL London Zoo'],
  arrival_location_id: 'London center',
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  arrival_time_period: 'weekday_morning',
  travel_time: 1900,
  properties: ['travel_time', 'fares']
}

arrival_one_to_many = {
  id: 'arrive-at one-to-many search example',
  arrival_location_ids: ['Hyde Park', 'ZSL London Zoo'],
  departure_location_id: 'London center',
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  arrival_time_period: 'weekday_morning',
  travel_time: 1900,
  properties: ['travel_time', 'fares']
}

arrival_searches = {
  many_to_one: [arrival_many_to_one],
  one_to_many: [arrival_one_to_many]
}

response = client.time_filter_fast(
  locations: locations,
  arrival_searches: arrival_searches
)

puts response.body

A fast version of time filter communicating using protocol buffers.

The request parameters are much more limited and only travel time is returned. In addition, the results are only approximately correct (95% of the results are guaranteed to be within 5% of the routes returned by regular time filter).

This inflexibility comes with a benefit of faster response times (Over 5x faster compared to regular time filter) and larger limits on the amount of destination points.

Body attributes:

  • origin: Origin point.
  • destinations: Destination points. Cannot be more than 200,000.
  • country: Return the results that are within the specified country.
  • transport: Transportation type.
  • traveltime: Time limit.

origin = {
  lat: 51.508930,
  lng: -0.131387,
}

destinations = [{
  lat: 51.508824,
  lng: -0.167093,
}]

response = client.time_filter_fast_proto(
  country: 'UK',
  origin: origin,
  destinations: destinations,
  transport: 'driving+ferry',
  traveltime: 7200
)
puts(response.body)

The responses are in the form of a list where each position denotes either a travel time (in seconds) of a journey, or if negative that the journey from the origin to the destination point is impossible.

Returns routing information between source and destinations.

Body attributes:

  • locations: Locations to use. Each location requires an id and lat/lng values.
  • departure_searches: Searches based on departure times. Leave departure location at no earlier than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches.
  • arrival_searches: Searches based on arrival times. Arrive at destination location at no later than given time. You can define a maximum of 10 searches.

require 'time'

locations = [{
  id: 'London center',
  coords: {
    lat: 51.508930,
    lng: -0.131387
  }
},
{
  id: 'Hyde Park',
  coords: {
    lat: 51.508824,
    lng: -0.167093
  }
},
{
  id: 'ZSL London Zoo',
  coords: {
    lat: 51.536067,
    lng: -0.153596
  }
}]

departure_search = {
  id: 'forward search example',
  departure_location_id: 'London center',
  arrival_location_ids: ['Hyde Park', 'ZSL London Zoo'],
  transportation: {
    type: 'bus'
  },
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  properties: ['travel_time'],
  range: {
    enabled: true,
    max_results: 3,
    width: 600
  }
}

arrival_search = {
  id: 'backward search example',
  departure_location_ids: ['Hyde Park', 'ZSL London Zoo'],
  arrival_location_id: 'London center',
  transportation: {
    type: 'public_transport'
  },
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  properties: ['travel_time', 'distance', 'fares', 'route']
}

response = client.routes(
  locations: locations,
  departure_searches: [departure_search],
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search]
)

puts response.body

Match a query string to geographic coordinates.

response = client.geocoding(query: 'London', within_country: 'GB')
puts response.body

Attempt to match a latitude, longitude pair to an address.

response = client.reverse_geocoding(lat: 51.506756, lng: -0.128050)
puts response.body

Find reachable postcodes from origin (or to destination) and get statistics about such postcodes. Currently only supports United Kingdom.

require 'time'

departure_search = {
  id: 'public transport from Trafalgar Square',
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  coords: { lat: 51.507609, lng: -0.128315 },
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  properties: ['travel_time', 'distance']
}

arrival_search = {
  id: 'public transport to Trafalgar Square',
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  coords: { lat: 51.507609, lng: -0.128315 },
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  properties: ['travel_time', 'distance']
}

response = client.time_filter_postcodes(
  departure_searches: [departure_search], 
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search]
)

puts response.body

Find districts that have a certain coverage from origin (or to destination) and get statistics about postcodes within such districts. Currently only supports United Kingdom.

require 'time'

departure_search = {
  id: 'public transport from Trafalgar Square',
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  coords: { lat: 51.507609, lng: -0.128315 },
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  properties: ['coverage', 'travel_time_reachable', 'travel_time_all'],
  reachable_postcodes_threshold: 0.1
}

arrival_search = {
  id: 'public transport to Trafalgar Square',
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  coords: { lat: 51.507609, lng: -0.128315 },
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  properties: ['coverage', 'travel_time_reachable', 'travel_time_all'],
  reachable_postcodes_threshold: 0.1
}

response = client.time_filter_postcode_districts(
  departure_searches: [departure_search],
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search]
)

puts response.body

Find sectors that have a certain coverage from origin (or to destination) and get statistics about postcodes within such sectors. Currently only supports United Kingdom.

require 'time'

departure_search = {
  id: 'public transport from Trafalgar Square',
  departure_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  coords: { lat: 51.507609, lng: -0.128315 },
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  properties: ['coverage', 'travel_time_reachable', 'travel_time_all'],
  reachable_postcodes_threshold: 0.1
}

arrival_search = {
  id: 'public transport to Trafalgar Square',
  arrival_time: Time.now.iso8601,
  travel_time: 1800,
  coords: { lat: 51.507609, lng: -0.128315 },
  transportation: { type: 'public_transport' },
  properties: ['coverage', 'travel_time_reachable', 'travel_time_all'],
  reachable_postcodes_threshold: 0.1
}

response = client.time_filter_postcode_sectors(
  departure_searches: [departure_search],
  arrival_searches: [arrival_search]
)

puts response.body

Get information about currently supported countries.

response = client.map_info
puts response.body

Find out what points are supported by the api.

locations = [{
  id: "London",
  coords: {
    lat: 51.506756,
    lng: -0.128050
  }
},
{
  id: "Bangkok",
  coords: {
    lat: 13.761866,
    lng: 100.544818
  }
},
{
  id: "Lisbon",
  coords: {
    lat: 38.721869,
    lng: -9.138549
  }
},
{
  id: "Kaunas",
  coords: {
    lat: 54.900008,
    lng: 23.957734
  }
}]

response = client.supported_locations(locations: locations)

puts response.body

Development

After checking out the repo, run bin/setup to install dependencies. Then, run rake spec to run the tests. You can also run bin/console for an interactive prompt that will allow you to experiment.

To install this gem onto your local machine, run bundle exec rake install.

To release a new version, update the version number in version.rb and then create a GitHub release. This will trigger a GitHub Action which will push the .gem file to rubygems.org.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/traveltime-dev/traveltime-sdk-ruby.