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Smoother regional analysis view
Smoother regional analysis view
Smoother regional analysis view

We are pleased to roll out new analysis capabilities and smoother visualizations. This major release includes v7.0 of the R5 routing engine and...

  • Enhances spatial dataset and regional analysis maps. The new maps include smooth scaling, rotation, querying access/density values at specific points, toggling layers on and off, and other features (thanks to vector maps and GPU acceleration).
  • Adds time-to-nearest nth facility ("dual" accessibility) metrics as an experimental feature for CSV results (#884). Using this feature, you can now calculate additional metrics such as those used in the TransitCenter Equity Dashboard (the time to nearest hospital and time to third-nearest grocery store). See details here. We expect to support map results in an upcoming release; let us know what you think in the meantime!
  • Provides more regular and detailed updates on regional analysis progress, helping keep cloud workers active when analyses are queued up (#874).
  • Shifts travel time sampling points to better correspond with destination densities (#894). This change will alter results relative to past versions of the R5 routing engine. With related user interface changes, older versions of R5 will now result in slightly offset isochrones.
  • Ensures that results are readily comparable within the web interface when regional analysis bounds are reused in a subsequent analysis (#897, #898)
  • Improves shapefile upload and validation (#868, #872). Geojson uploads are coming soon.
  • Improves GTFS upload and validation (#869, #870, #873).
  • Makes default behavior of frequency entries more intuitive.
  • Updates R5 to use the latest Java LTS version (21), ensuring security and stability updates over the long term.

We're thrilled to announce these updates, especially a new itinerary viewer for diving into Conveyal's multi-modal routing results! To view detailed transit itineraries, use the recommended routing engine (at least v6.8), pin a destination on the map, fetch results, and click the "View routes to destination" button.

Display a summary of routes to the destination
Display a summary of routes to the destination
Display a summary of routes to the destination

In the itinerary viewer, the left table shows a minute-by-minute summary of optimal itineraries from your selected origin to destination. Details for each itinerary are on the right, including access/egress time/mode, a range of total door-to-door durations (reflecting different waiting times encountered), the number of times the itinerary was used, and information about each transit leg of the journey (boarding/alighting stops, route, and in-vehicle time).

Additional improvements and bug fixes available with the v6.8 release:​

  • Improved informational and warning messages returned while running an analysis
  • Revised on-street routing to prevent passing certain OSM barrier nodes (such as emergency exits)
  • Enabled experimental "generalized cost" routing on additional networks
  • Fixed a bug that could set an incorrect bicycle LTS in certain modifications
  • Improved file upload

This release adds:

  • New regional analysis options, including easier ways to activate travel time and detailed transit path results
Configuring travel time and path analyses
Configuring travel time and path analyses
Configuring travel time and path analyses
  • Smoother computational scaling for regional analyses
  • Updated employment/workforce data for US regions (using the 2019 release of LODES)
  • Clearer descriptions of certain uncommon errors