Route planner distances: Google keys, OSRM and estimates

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Route planner distances: Google keys, OSRM and estimates

Where driving distances come from, which settings change them, and how to read "estimate" versus real figures.

The Route planner, the “Suggest times” feature and the phone app all need driving miles and minutes between points. VisionScaper gets them from one of three sources, in this order.

Source When it is used Label you see
Google Routes API A Google key is saved “Google driving distances”
OSRM server No Google key, but an OSRM address is saved “OSRM driving distances”
Estimate Neither is set Estimate from straight-line distance

Addresses are turned into map points with the US Census geocoder (cached). Restaurants and gas stations come from Google Places (with gas prices) when a key is set, otherwise from OpenStreetMap (no prices).

What an estimate means

Without a routing service the planner multiplies straight-line miles by 1.3 and guesses minutes, slower on short hops. Other screens show minutes as blank rather than inventing them. Real traffic is never modelled, even with Google or OSRM.

Steps: connect a source

These fields are on the WordPress admin page Settings → VisionScaper, in the Basics table, under the Google keys.
1. For Google: paste a key into Google server key for the Route planner (optional). The page says to enable the Routes API and Places API (New), and to restrict the key to your server. Follow Google’s current instructions to create the key.
2. Or, for OSRM: type the address of an OSRM server you host into OSRM routing server (optional). It must start with https://, for example https://osrm.example.com.
3. Save the settings.

If the Google Maps API key field (for address autocomplete) is the only key present, the planner falls back to it as a server key. A browser key restricted to your site also needs the site as referer.

Tips

  • OSRM is something you or your web person hosts. VisionScaper does not provide one.
  • Routing answers are cached for a day when they are real.
  • Check a plan on a few known trips before you rely on it. Nothing here has been tested by VisionScaper on your roads.

If something goes wrong

  • Everything says “estimate”. No key or server is saved, or the service did not answer.
  • The OSRM field clears on save. It accepts only https:// addresses.

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