The Travel Time Geohash (Fast) endpoint is available with even higher performance through a version using Protocol Buffers (Protobuf). This version of the API is built to create large travel time matrices with extremely low response times.
The endpoint takes as inputs a single origin location, a mode of transport, a maximum travel time, a resolution, and requested properties.
The endpoint returns a series of geohash IDs with accompanying requested properties. The returned geohashes cover the area up to the maximum travel time.
Protocol Buffers are used to reduce latency in comparison to the JSON version of the Travel Time Geohash (Fast) endpoint. Performance is also optimised by having minimal configurable parameters - if you require the ability to configure things like specific arrival/departure times then you should use the Travel Time Geohash JSON endpoint.
The typical response time for a Protobuf request may be up to 50% faster on average than a typical JSON request. This allows us to handle most requests at resolution 7 in under 500 ms. Some resolution and travel time limitations apply.
The Protobuf endpoint is most appropriate for use cases that involve large response messages and where performance is a high priority. For example:
- Big data applications
- B2C applications that require a travel time search functionality with minimised impact on page loading times
The Protobuf endpoint is accessible using the same API credentials as other TravelTime API endpoints, and is available on all licence plans.
There are 2 ways in which the Protobuf endpoint can be accessed:
- SDKs
- Direct integration
All of our SDKs include support for Protobuf:
If you have a particular requirement for one of our other SDKs to support Protobuf, please get in touch at support@traveltime.com
While we would recommend using the SDKs above, the Protobuf endpoint can also be accessed in other languages through building your own direct integration.
When building your own integration it is important to note that we do not use gRPC, we use Protobuf for serialization only.
Protobuf is not supported in every country that we cover, but is currently available in 38 of the largest countries that we support, including most of Europe and North America.
A full list of supported countries can be found at the bottom of this page.
The Protobuf service is built for performance, and we offer an open-source solution for benchmarking that is completely free to use. This can be found in this GitHub repository. The readme provides a guide of how to use the tool, as well as some example results.
Please note that to run the benchmarking tool yourself you will need Protobuf credentials. Please contact us at support@traveltime.com to get yours.