cntraveltime: Travel distance and travel time in China

Abstract

In this article, we introduce the command cntraveltime, which can calculate both the travel distance and the travel time between two locations in China with respect to different modes of transportation (driving, public transport, and cycling). Existing commands such as georoute, traveltime, and mqtime have difficulties in parsing Chinese locations. cntraveltime solves this outstanding challenge via a feature that enables it to call route-planning services from the Baidu Maps Open Platform. The results of rigorous testing on the features of the command show that, relative to similar existing commands, cntraveltime has the highest capacity in terms of functionality and precision. This suggests that it can be regarded as a useful complement to other existing commands, especially when calculating travel distance and time for locations within China.