Generate Approximate Drive Times (Business Analyst)

Available with Business Analyst license.

Summary

Creates trade areas that approximate the size, shape, and area of existing polygons using available routes from the selected distance type.

Usage

  • The Output Feature Class attribute table contains a field that lists the distance or travel time of each polygon from centroid to boundary.

  • If the Store Layer parameter is specified, its locations will be used as the starting point for creating network service areas, instead of the input centroids.

  • The Iterations Limit parameter allows you to reduce credit consumption for online data by restricting the number of times networks can be traversed. A low Iterations Limit value may impact how closely the drive time trade areas align with the input polygons.

  • The Store Layer parameter locations must be inside the Input Features parameter value to produce valid drive time polygons.

  • The Store Layer parameter locations that are near the Input Features parameter value border can result in large drive time polygons outside of the Input Features parameter value area. As a result, there may be a substantial difference between the input area and resulting drive time.

Parameters

LabelExplanationData Type
Input Features

The input polygon feature layer.

Feature Layer
Output Feature Class

The output feature class containing the drive time polygons.

Feature Class
Distance Type

The method of travel used to create the output polygons.

String
Distance Units
(Optional)

The distance units to be used with the threshold values.

String
Store Layer
(Optional)

A point layer that will be used as the starting point for creating network service areas.

Feature Layer
Store ID Field
(Optional)

The ID that uniquely identifies each Store Layer point.

Field
Associated Store ID Field
(Optional)

The ID that uniquely identifies each Input Features point.

Field
Iterations Limit
(Optional)

The maximum number of drive times that can be used to find the optimal threshold limit.

Long
Minimum Step
(Optional)

The minimum increment distance or time—for example, 1 mile or 1 min—that will be used between iterations to expand until the threshold is reached.

Double
Threshold Percent Difference
(Optional)

The maximum difference between the target value and threshold value when determining the threshold drive time, for example, 5 percent. The default value is 5.

Double
Travel Direction
(Optional)

Specifies the direction of travel for output polygon creation.

  • Toward StoresThe direction of travel will be from customers to stores. This is the default.
  • Away from StoresThe direction of travel will be from stores to customers.
String
Time of Day
(Optional)

The time and date that will be used when calculating distance.

Date
Time Zone
(Optional)

Specifies the time zone that will be used for the Time of Day parameter.

  • Time Zone at LocationThe time zone in which the territories are located will be used. This is the default.
  • UTCCoordinated universal time (UTC) will be used.
String
Search Tolerance
(Optional)

The maximum distance that input points can be from the network.

The default value is 5000 meters.

Linear Unit
Polygon Detail
(Optional)

Specifies the level of detail that will be used for the output drive time polygons.

  • StandardPolygons with a standard level of detail will be created. This is the default.
  • GeneralizedGeneralized polygons will be created using the hierarchy present in the network data source to produce results quickly.
  • HighPolygons with a high level of detail will be created for applications in which precise results are important.
String

arcpy.ba.GenerateApproximateDriveTimes(in_features, out_feature_class, distance_type, {units}, {in_stores_layer}, {store_id_field}, {link_field}, {iterations_limit}, {minimum_step}, {target_percent_diff}, {travel_direction}, {time_of_day}, {time_zone}, {search_tolerance}, {polygon_detail})
NameExplanationData Type
in_features

The input polygon feature layer.

Feature Layer
out_feature_class

The output feature class containing the drive time polygons.

Feature Class
distance_type

The method of travel used to create the output polygons.

String
units
(Optional)

The distance units to be used with the threshold values.

String
in_stores_layer
(Optional)

A point layer that will be used as the starting point for creating network service areas.

Feature Layer
store_id_field
(Optional)

The ID that uniquely identifies each in_stores_layer point.

Field
link_field
(Optional)

The ID that uniquely identifies each in_features point.

Field
iterations_limit
(Optional)

The maximum number of drive times that can be used to find the optimal threshold limit.

Long
minimum_step
(Optional)

The minimum increment distance or time—for example, 1 mile or 1 min—that will be used between iterations to expand until the threshold is reached.

Double
target_percent_diff
(Optional)

The maximum difference between the target value and threshold value when determining the threshold drive time, for example, 5 percent. The default value is 5.

Double
travel_direction
(Optional)

Specifies the direction of travel for output polygon creation.

  • TOWARD_STORESThe direction of travel will be from customers to stores. This is the default.
  • AWAY_FROM_STORESThe direction of travel will be from stores to customers.
String
time_of_day
(Optional)

The time and date that will be used when calculating distance.

Date
time_zone
(Optional)

Specifies the time zone that will be used for the time_of_day parameter.

  • TIME_ZONE_AT_LOCATIONThe time zone in which the territories are located will be used. This is the default.
  • UTCCoordinated universal time (UTC) will be used.
String
search_tolerance
(Optional)

The maximum distance that input points can be from the network.

The default value is 5000 meters.

Linear Unit
polygon_detail
(Optional)

Specifies the level of detail that will be used for the output drive time polygons.

  • STANDARDPolygons with a standard level of detail will be created. This is the default.
  • GENERALIZEDGeneralized polygons will be created using the hierarchy present in the network data source to produce results quickly.
  • HIGHPolygons with a high level of detail will be created for applications in which precise results are important.
String

Code sample

GenerateApproximateDriveTimes example (Python window)

The following Python window script demonstrates how to use the GenerateApproximateDriveTimes function.

import arcpy
arcpy.ba.GenerateApproximateDriveTimes("SF_TradeArea",r"C:\Project1.gdb\SF_Stores_GenerateApproximateDriveTimes", "Driving Time", "MINUTES",r"C:\Project1.gdb\sf_stores_Geocoded", "INPUT_AREA_ID", "STORES_AREA_ID", 10, None, 5, "TOWARD_STORES", None, "TIME_ZONE_AT_LOCATION", None, "STANDARD")

Licensing information

  • Basic: Requires Business Analyst, ArcGIS Network Analyst extension
  • Standard: Requires Business Analyst, ArcGIS Network Analyst extension
  • Advanced: Requires Business Analyst, ArcGIS Network Analyst extension

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