Using Historical Data to Adjust Map-Based Travel Estimation

The application improves the accuracy of travel time used during routing by adjusting map-based travel estimations using historical information collected from completed activities. This adjustment helps the routing engine account for real-world conditions that may not be reflected in map provider estimates, such as:

• Time spent parking
• Walking to the customer site
• Navigating complex buildings or service locations

To calculate the adjusted travel duration, the application:

• Begins with the travel duration provided by the map service (SLR, real-time traffic, or coordinate-based estimation).
• Compares the map-based estimate with travel durations reported by mobile workers.
• Learns the typical difference for each destination’s travel key.
• Treats the map provider’s estimate as the base travel time.
• Adds a learned adjustment value when enough historical data exists for that travel key.
• Uses broader travel-key patterns when limited data is available.
• Applies the adjustment only to map-based travel methods (airline-distance estimates are not adjusted).

The adjustment is applied during routing whenever the routing plan uses map-based travel, including:

• Street-Level Routing (SLR)
• Real-time traffic–based travel estimation
• Coordinate-based travel estimation

The application schedules activities using these adjusted travel durations, resulting in routing outcomes that better reflect actual field conditions.

Using adjusted map-based travel helps improve:

• Accuracy of travel time across the route.
• On-time performance.
• Route quality in dense metropolitan or complex areas.
• Fair distribution of workload across resources.
• Consistency across SLR, traffic-based, and coordinate-based travel estimation.