2026.6.3
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Get travel times

The Get travel times action retrieves route alternatives and travel times between two locations, and returns them as response data. It covers driving, walking, and bicycling. For public transit, use the Get transit times action instead.

This action does not target an entity. Instead, you select which Google Maps Travel Time configuration entry to use, and provide the origin and destination.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To get travel times from an automation or a script:

  1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
  2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
  3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
  4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
  5. From the search box, search for and select Google Maps Travel Time: Get travel times.
  6. Select the Config entry to use, enter the Origin and Destination, and set any of the options you need.
  7. In the Response variable field, enter a name to store the result, for example, travel_times.
  8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Config entry (Required)

The Google Maps Travel Time configuration entry to use for this action.
Origin (Required)

The origin of the route. You can use an address, GPS coordinates, or an entity ID.
Destination (Required)

The destination of the route. You can use an address, GPS coordinates, or an entity ID.
Mode (Optional)

The mode of transportation, either driving, walking, or bicycling.
Units (Optional)

Which unit system to use, either metric or imperial.
Language (Optional)

The language to use for the response.
Avoid (Optional)

A route feature to avoid, either tolls, highways, ferries, or indoor.
Traffic model (Optional)

The traffic model to use when calculating driving routes, either best guess, pessimistic, or optimistic.
Departure time (Optional)

The desired departure time, as a time string such as 08:00:00.
Response variable (Optional)

The name of the variable where the result will be stored. If not provided, the result won’t be stored.

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as google_travel_time.get_travel_times. A basic example looks like this:

ActionActions are used in several places in Home Assistant. As part of a script or automation, actions define what is going to happen once a trigger is activated. In scripts, an action is called *sequence*. [Learn more] 
action: google_travel_time.get_travel_times
data:
  config_entry_id: "013713c172577bada2874a32dbe44feb"
  origin: "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA"
  destination: "1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA"
response_variable: travel_times

This retrieves the travel times and stores them in the travel_times response variable.

Options in YAML

config_entry_id string Required

The Google Maps Travel Time configuration entry to use for this action.

origin string Required

The origin of the route. You can use an address, GPS coordinates, or an entity ID.

destination string Required

The destination of the route. You can use an address, GPS coordinates, or an entity ID.

mode string

The mode of transportation. One of driving, walking, or bicycling.

units string

Which unit system to use. One of metric or imperial.

language string

The language to use for the response.

avoid string

A route feature to avoid. One of tolls, highways, ferries, or indoor.

traffic_model string

The traffic model to use when calculating driving routes. One of best_guess, pessimistic, or optimistic.

departure_time string

The desired departure time, as a time string such as 08:00:00.

response_variable string

The name of the variable where the result will be stored. If not provided, the result won’t be stored.

Response data

The response data is a mapping with a routes list. Each route has the following fields:

  • duration: The travel time in seconds.
  • duration_text: The travel time as readable text, such as 27 mins.
  • static_duration_text: The travel time without traffic, as readable text.
  • distance_meters: The distance in meters.
  • distance_text: The distance as readable text, such as 15.2 km.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Tip

AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain actions or suggest the right one when you describe what you want in plain language.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one:

  • Get transit times: Retrieves route alternatives and travel times between two locations using public transit.