Creating Isochrone Travel Time Maps in QGIS with OpenRouteService

Introduction

Isochrone maps are a map type which represent a geographic extent accessible within a certain time threshold from a specified point or line. They often represent travel time on foot, by car, or by transit services.

This tutorial will provide a walkthrough in the creation of isochrone maps, how to manipulate the output based on their intended use and audience, and a way to host them online to be accessible by other users.

The software to be used for this tutorial is QGIS. Visit their website to download the software at this link. Find an installation guide here if you need assistance through the download process.

Data & Plugins

With the QGIS software downloaded and open, follow the next steps to attach all the necessary plugins and tools to your QGIS interface.

HCMGIS

This tutorial will use the HCMGIS plugin to source basemap. Through this plugin, you can instantly load basemaps from multiple sources, like Google Maps (including satellite imagery), ESRI, and other cartographic services. It also facilitates downloading OpenData, but a different option for doing this will be explored in this tutorial.

From the Menu Toolbar of the QGIS interface, find Plugins and select Manage and Install Plugins. Under All, search for HCMGIS, and click Install Plugins.

Once installed, you should see HCMGIS listed in the QGIS Menu Toolbar.

Using the HCMGIS plugin, add the ESRI Topographic basemap to your project.

QuickOSM

Use the same method as in the HCMGIS section to access the Plugin repository, and install the QuickOSM plugin.

Usage of QGIS for projects and analysis will show that QuickOSM is an indispensable resource which allows simple but in-depth querying of open data, which is instantly downloaded from OpenStreetMap and added to your project.

The QuickOSM toolbar should now be added to the Toolbars present in your QGIS project pane. Look for the following symbols:

Click on the green magnifying glass to open the QuickOSM query tool. Use this tool to download the lines of the O-Train network, both current operating extent, and the future East and West extensions.