Find service areas

Learn how to calculate the area that can be reached in a given drive time from a location.

A service area, also known as an isochrone, is a polygon that represents the area that can be reached when driving or walking on a street network. The area that can be reached is restricted by either time or distance. To calculate service areas, you can use the Service area service. You provide a start location (facilities), one or more time or distance values, and a spatial reference. Once processed, the service returns the service areas that can be reached.

In this tutorial, you will create and display five, ten, and fifteen minute drive time service areas when the map is clicked.

To learn how to find a route and directions to different locations, visit the Get a route and directions tutorial.

Prerequisites

You need an ArcGIS Developer or ArcGIS Online account to access the dashboard and create an API key.

Steps

Create a new pen

To get started, either complete the Display a map tutorial or .

Set the API key

To access ArcGIS services, you need an API key.

Go to your dashboard to get an API key.
In CodePen, set the apiKey to your key, so it can be used to access basemap layer and location services.

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esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";
const map = new Map({
  basemap: "arcgis/topographic" // basemap styles service
});

Add modules

In the require statement, add the serviceArea, ServiceAreaParameters, FeatureSet, and Graphic modules.

The ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript is available as AMD modules and ES modules, but this tutorial is based on AMD. The AMD require function uses references to determine which modules will be loaded – for example, you can specify "esri/Map" for loading the Map module. After the modules are loaded, they are passed as parameters (e.g. Map) to the callback function where they can be used in your application. It is important to keep the module references and callback parameters in the same order. For more information on the different types of modules, visit the Introduction to Tooling guide topic.

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    require([
      "esri/config",
      "esri/Map",
      "esri/views/MapView",
      "esri/rest/serviceArea",
      "esri/rest/support/ServiceAreaParameters",
      "esri/rest/support/FeatureSet",
      "esri/Graphic"
    ], function(esriConfig, Map, MapView, serviceArea, ServiceAreaParams, FeatureSet, Graphic) {
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Update the map

A streets basemap layer is typically used in routing applications. Update the basemap property to use the arcgis/navigation basemap layer and change the position of the map to center on Osaka.

Update the basemap property from arcgis/topographic to arcgis/navigation.

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      esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const map = new Map({
        basemap: "arcgis/navigation"
      });

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Change the zoom and center properties to center on Osaka.

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      esriConfig.apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

      const map = new Map({
        basemap: "arcgis/navigation"
      });

      const view = new MapView({
        container: "viewDiv",
        map: map,
        center: [135.5023,34.6937], //Longitude, latitude
        zoom: 11
      });
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Define the service url

The serviceArea module makes a request to a service and returns the results. Use the serviceArea class to access the Service area service.

Define a property, serviceAreaUrl, to reference the service url.

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      const view = new MapView({
        container: "viewDiv",
        map: map,
        center: [135.5023,34.6937], //Longitude, latitude
        zoom: 11
      });

      const serviceAreaUrl = "https://route-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/ServiceAreas/NAServer/ServiceArea_World/solveServiceArea";
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Add a point graphic

Use a point graphic to display the location (facility) for the service area starting point.

Add a click handler to add a point graphic to the view.

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      const serviceAreaUrl = "https://route-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/ServiceAreas/NAServer/ServiceArea_World/solveServiceArea";

      view.on("click", function(event){

      });
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Create a createGraphic function that takes a point as a parameter and returns a white Graphic. It should remove all graphics each time.

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      // Create the location graphic
      function createGraphic(point) {
        view.graphics.removeAll();
        const graphic = new Graphic({
          geometry: point,
          symbol: {
            type: "simple-marker",
            color: "white",
            size: 8
          }
        });

        view.graphics.add(graphic);
        return graphic;
      }
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Update the click handler to call the createGraphic function and store the graphic in locationGraphic.

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      view.on("click", function(event){

        const locationGraphic = createGraphic(event.mapPoint);

      });
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Click on the map to see a point graphic.

Create service area parameters

A serviceArea uses drive times (cutoffs) and spatial reference parameters to calculate the service area. It also uses a FeatureSet to set the facilities (location) from where the service area polygon will be drawn. Use a click handler in the View to set the parameters required to create the service area.

Create a createServiceAreaParams function that takes point graphic, drive time, and spatial reference parameters.

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        view.graphics.add(graphic);
        return graphic;
      }

      function createServiceAreaParams(locationGraphic, driveTimeCutoffs, outSpatialReference) {

      }
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Create a FeatureSet to set the features property with the point graphic.

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      function createServiceAreaParams(locationGraphic, driveTimeCutoffs, outSpatialReference) {

        // Create one or more locations (facilities) to solve for
        const featureSet = new FeatureSet({
          features: [locationGraphic]
        });

      }
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Create a ServiceAreaParams and return the taskParameters element.

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      function createServiceAreaParams(locationGraphic, driveTimeCutoffs, outSpatialReference) {

        // Create one or more locations (facilities) to solve for
        const featureSet = new FeatureSet({
          features: [locationGraphic]
        });

        // Set all of the input parameters for the service
        const taskParameters = new ServiceAreaParams({
          facilities: featureSet,
          defaultBreaks: driveTimeCutoffs,
          trimOuterPolygon: true,
          outSpatialReference: outSpatialReference
        });
        return taskParameters;

      }
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Update the click handler to add drive time cutoffs of 5, 10, and 15 minutes and to call the createServiceAreaParams function.

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      view.on("click", function(event){

        const locationGraphic = createGraphic(event.mapPoint);

        const driveTimeCutoffs = [5,10,15]; // Minutes
        const serviceAreaParams = createServiceAreaParams(locationGraphic, driveTimeCutoffs, view.spatialReference);

      });
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Solve the service area

To solve the service area, pass the serviceAreaParams to the solve method. Use a solveServiceArea function to find the service area polygon and add the resulting graphic to the view.

Create a solveServiceArea function.

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        // Set all of the input parameters for the service
        const taskParameters = new ServiceAreaParams({
          facilities: featureSet,
          defaultBreaks: driveTimeCutoffs,
          trimOuterPolygon: true,
          outSpatialReference: outSpatialReference
        });
        return taskParameters;

      }

      function solveServiceArea(url, serviceAreaParams) {

      }
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Call the solve method to find the service area and add the results to the view.

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      function solveServiceArea(url, serviceAreaParams) {

        return serviceArea.solve(url, serviceAreaParams)
          .then(function(result){
            if (result.serviceAreaPolygons.features.length) {
              // Draw each service area polygon
              result.serviceAreaPolygons.features.forEach(function(graphic){
                graphic.symbol = {
                  type: "simple-fill",
                  color: "rgba(255,50,50,.25)"
                }
                view.graphics.add(graphic,0);
              });
            }
          }, function(error){
            console.log(error);
          });

      }
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Update the click handler to call the solveServiceArea function.

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      view.on("click", function(event){

        const locationGraphic = createGraphic(event.mapPoint);

        const driveTimeCutoffs = [5,10,15]; // Minutes
        const serviceAreaParams = createServiceAreaParams(locationGraphic, driveTimeCutoffs, view.spatialReference);

        solveServiceArea(serviceAreaUrl, serviceAreaParams);

      });
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the map.

Click on the map to create service areas. When you click on the map, you will see a point graphic along with drive time service areas. The service areas represent the area that can be reached within 5, 10, and 15 minutes.

What's next?

Learn how to use additional API features and ArcGIS services in these tutorials: