Drive times and leave times

Optimized routes, arrival times and suggested windows all rest on the same estimate of how long each drive takes.

Who can do this: Everyone who can see the map.

Also called: travel time, departure time.

How drive times are worked out

Astragal estimates each drive along real roads, allowing for rush hour on weekdays, and adds a little time to park. The same estimate is used everywhere: Optimize Route, the times under the pins, the windows offered on a lookup pin, online booking and the AI receptionist. If road times aren’t available for a moment, the whole day is worked out from the distance between the addresses instead, and after Optimize Route the map says “Road drive times weren’t available, so estimated drive times were used. Try again in a minute.”

Arrival times under the pins

After Optimize Route, each stop shows the time the team member should get there:

• A dark label is the planned arrival.
• A red label means the stop is running late as the day goes.
• On site and Done show when the team member has arrived or finished.
• A time starting with ~ is an estimate that depends on a lookup pin you’re still checking.

A red number on the pin itself means the stop was expected to miss its arrival window when the route was planned.

The leave-at flag

The flag at the start of the route shows when to set off. Click it to read “Leave at … to reach your first stop on time.” and, when there’s room, how late they can leave and still make every stop. The time aims to arrive as the first window opens, with a small allowance for traffic, and then moves later if that cuts waiting between jobs. The flag turns amber once the time has come. There is no flag when the route starts from a stop or from the team member’s live location.

Window colours on a lookup pin

When you check a new address, each arrival window is coloured:

• Green: the best place in the day, and the visit can start early in the window.
• Orange: works, but isn’t the best.
• Red: it squeezes another client’s arrival window or adds more than about 20 minutes of extra driving. Waiting time alone never makes a window red.

Related articles

• Optimizing a route
• Checking a new address on the map
• The map