Posted on December 31, 2022 (Updated on July 19, 2025)

Creating a Service Area with 6 hours Travel Time on ArcGIS Online

Hiking & Activities

Mapping Your Reach: Creating a 6-Hour Service Area in ArcGIS Online

Ever wondered how far your business can really reach in a few hours? Or how accessible vital services are to people in remote areas? That’s where service area analysis comes in, and ArcGIS Online puts this power right at your fingertips. Forget simple radius maps; we’re talking about mapping accessibility based on actual road networks and travel times. This is a game-changer for businesses, emergency responders, and city planners alike.

So, what exactly is a service area? Think of it as a “drive-time” zone. It shows you the area you can reach from a specific location (or locations) within a certain time, taking into account the twists and turns of roads, not just a straight line. This is super useful for all sorts of things: picking the perfect spot for a new store, figuring out if ambulances can reach everyone in time, or even optimizing delivery routes.

ArcGIS Online makes creating these service areas surprisingly straightforward. You’ll be using Esri’s network analysis tools, which consider things like speed limits and even traffic to give you a realistic picture.

Here’s the basic drill:

  • Drop Your Pins: First, you need to tell ArcGIS Online where your starting points are – your facilities. This could be your store locations, fire stations, or anything else. Just upload them as a point feature layer. Keep in mind that you can use up to 1,000 points at once.
  • Find the Right Tool: Head over to the Analysis tab in Map Viewer, then go to “Use Proximity” and select “Generate Travel Areas.” This used to be called “Create Drive-Time Areas” in the older Map Viewer Classic, so don’t get confused if you see that mentioned somewhere.
  • Pick Your Mode: Now, choose how people will be traveling. “Driving Time” is the most common, but you can also pick “Trucking Time” or even “Walking Time,” depending on what you’re analyzing. Your ArcGIS administrator usually sets up these travel modes.
  • Set Your Limits: This is where you tell the tool how far out you want to map. You might want to see areas reachable in 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, and so on.
  • Tweak the Settings: This is where you can really fine-tune things. You can tell the tool to use live traffic data (if available) or historical traffic patterns to get a more accurate picture. You can also choose how you want the output to look – overlapping areas, dissolved areas, or split polygons. Plus, you can adjust the level of detail.
  • Hit Go! Once you’re happy with your settings, run the analysis and let ArcGIS Online do its thing. It’ll spit out a hosted feature layer showing your service areas.

    • Okay, here’s the catch: the 6-hour limit.

    ArcGIS Online is powerful, but it’s not magic. When it comes to service areas, there are some limits, especially when you’re dealing with long travel times like 6 hours. The biggest one?

    • Time Crunch: The “Generate Travel Areas” tool has a hard limit of 5 hours (300 minutes) for most travel modes. Walking gets you a bit more, up to 9 hours (540 minutes).
    • Detail Matters: If you want super-detailed polygons or want to include every reachable street, that limit drops way down to just 15 minutes for driving and other modes (walking stays at 5 hours).

    So, what do you do if you need to map a 6-hour drive? Don’t worry, there are a few tricks:

  • Walk This Way (Maybe): If it makes sense for your analysis, switch to “Walking Time.” It’s not ideal for cars, but it does give you that longer time limit.
  • Divide and Conquer: Try breaking your analysis into smaller chunks. Run a 3-hour service area, then use that boundary as the starting point for another 3-hour run. It’s a bit clunky, but it can work.
  • Pro Power: If you’re serious about this and need more flexibility, check out ArcGIS Pro. It’s Esri’s desktop software, and with the Network Analyst extension, you can break free from those online limits.
  • Get Coding: If you’re a developer, you can tap into the ArcGIS Online Service Area API for a more custom solution. It’s more advanced, but it gives you a lot more control.
  • Keep it Simple: For big areas and long times, don’t get bogged down in too much detail. Simplify those polygons to speed things up.

    • A few extra pointers:

    • Pick the right mode: This sounds obvious, but it’s crucial. Think about the vehicle, the roads, and the traffic.
    • Traffic is key: Always factor in traffic, either live or historical, for realistic results.
    • Block the bad stuff: Use barriers to block off road closures or restricted areas.
    • Streamline your data: The simpler your data, the faster the analysis.
    • Watch your credits: ArcGIS Online uses credits for this, so keep an eye on your usage.
    • Hierarchy matters: Once you exceed 4 hours, the tool automatically uses road hierarchy to speed things up, whether you want it to or not.
    • Double-check everything: Always validate your results to make sure they make sense in the real world.

    Wrapping Up

    ArcGIS Online is a fantastic tool for mapping service areas and understanding accessibility. Sure, there are a few bumps in the road when you’re dealing with really long travel times, but with a little know-how and these workarounds, you can still get the insights you need. So go ahead, start mapping, and see how far your reach really extends!

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