Adding an eta / arrive by time

Need help APIs
1

I need to create an ETA from current location to a specified location.

I know how to calculate duration, but can’t seem to pull that information to add it to the current time. I would also need to make the ETA a static value for the desired workflow.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :slight_smile:

2

Not sure if you looked too hard, but you don’t need to reinvent the wheel!

Distance Matrix API overview | Google for Developers

3

Thank you for your kind and encouraging words @GH5T.

I have, in fact, looked quite diligently. And, I am most certainly not trying to reinvent the wheel. As noted in my post, I am capable of acquiring the travel duration. My goal is to provide a time of day based on the travel duration, not just a duration of travel. If I have missed that option with Distance Matrix, would you be so kind as to enlighten me?

4

To provide a time of day based on travel duration, you would typically need a mapping or routing service that can estimate the travel time between two locations. Google Distance Matrix API can be a suitable option for this purpose.

Here’s a general outline of how you could achieve this using the Google Distance Matrix API:

  1. Set Up Google Distance Matrix API:
  • Go to the Google Cloud Console.
  • Create a new project or use an existing one.
  • Enable the Distance Matrix API for your project.
  • Obtain the API key.
  1. Use the API Key in Your Application:
  • Integrate the Google Distance Matrix API into your application or script.
  • Make a request to the API with the origin and destination coordinates.
  • Extract the travel duration from the API response.
  1. Calculate Time of Day:
  • Based on the estimated travel duration, calculate the expected time of arrival (ETA).
  • Add the travel duration to the current time to get the expected arrival time.
  • Optionally, consider factors like traffic conditions, time of day, and historical data to improve accuracy.
  1. Display or Use the Time of Day:
  • Once you have the estimated arrival time, you can display it to the user or use it for further processing in your application.
5

My duration is formatted as text. My issue is trying to add the duration to the current time with it being text.

6

If it’s formatted as text, you can convert it to a number as well, then base your calculations off that.

7

1 hr 35 mins, when converted to a number, results in 135.

I guess this is where I do feel like I am recreating the wheel. :confused:

I am honestly feeling like I am digging myself into a mathematical hole, and still failing to achieve the desired result.

8

ChatGPT win :joy:

Are you certain the API only provides the text duration? I’d expect there to be a minutes value or hour decimal as well as the formatted text.

Edit: I just checked and it returns the number of seconds the journey takes next to the text value.

“duration”: { “text”: “3 jours 16 heures”, “value”: 318119 }

2 Likes
9

Clearly overthinking on my end… :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

Thank you!