Create a Drive Time or Ring

SCOUT allows you to create Drive Times and Rings around locations or other points on the map. These geographies can help you define trade areas, visualize proximity to a location, and establish areas for additional analysis or reporting.

A Drive Time represents the area that can be reached from a selected point within a specified number of minutes. Drive Times can be created throughout the United States by default. Access to Canadian Drive Times is available separately.

A Ring represents a fixed distance around a selected point and can be measured in either miles or kilometers. Rings can be created around locations regardless of Drive Time availability.

Drive Times are calculated using a drive-time engine based on peak travel hours that correspond with conventional daytime hours. Because travel conditions and road networks can vary, small minute-level differences may occur, particularly in densely populated areas such as New York City.

You can create a Drive Time or Ring around an existing anchor point or from another location on the SCOUT map.

The Input Box determines the size of the geography you create and defaults to 10.

For a Drive Time, enter the number of minutes you want the geography to represent. Drive Times can be created for up to 180 minutes.

For a Ring, enter the distance you want the Ring to extend from the selected point.

You can also create multiple geographies at the same time by separating values with commas. For example, entering 10, 15, 20 while creating Drive Times generates 10-, 15-, and 20-minute Drive Time polygons around the same location.

Use the Drive Time / Ring toggle to select the type of geography you want to create.

When Drive Time is selected, the value entered represents travel time in minutes.

When Ring is selected, an additional option becomes available that allows you to choose between miles and kilometers for the Ring's distance.

Enable Add to Study Area if you want the newly created geography to automatically be added to the Study Area section.

When enabled, SCOUT adds the geography to your Study Area and opens the corresponding menu. This provides a convenient shortcut when you plan to use the geography immediately for additional analysis or reporting.

Enable Auto Color to automatically assign different colors to the geographies you create. This is particularly useful when creating multiple Drive Times or Rings at once because each geography can be visually distinguished on the map.

For example, you can enter 10, 15, 20 and enable Auto Color to create three Drive Times around the same location, each displayed using a different color.

Once created, the resulting polygons display the different Drive Time areas around the selected location.

Select More Settings when you want additional control over how the geography appears on the map.

From these settings, you can manually select a color for the geography using the available color controls. You can also adjust the opacity of the geography and the thickness of its border.

These options can be useful when you need the geography to remain visible without obscuring other map layers or when preparing a map for presentation or sharing.

After a Drive Time or Ring has been added to the map, you can update its appearance or remove it through Active Items.

Locate the applicable geography in Active Items and open its More Options menu. From here, use the available settings to modify the geography, including changing its display color, or remove it from the map when it is no longer needed.

After creating a Drive Time or Ring, use Explore Geography to gain additional insights about the selected area.

You can also use the geography as the basis for a report. See How to Run a Report for additional information about reporting on geographies in SCOUT.