Google Maps, TravelTime, and Esri show you the time. We show you the cost.
Every commute tool maps how far you can get. None of them tell you what the trip actually costs your household — gas, tolls, parking, transit fares, bike-share, and rideshare. That gap, across 9 modes for the US and Canada, is the entire reason CommutingCost exists.
| Capability | Google Maps | TravelTime | Esri | CommutingCost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Isochrone travel time How far you can reach in N minutes | ||||
Real-money cost per trip Actual dollars: gas + tolls + parking + fares | ||||
Modes covered Drive, transit, walk, bike, Uber, P&R, K&R, Uber+rail, bike+rail | 4 / 9 | 4 / 9 | 2 / 9 | 9 / 9 |
Per-zone transit fare Real OD fare from agency GTFS-Fares, not a flat guess | ||||
Bike-share pricing Unlock + per-minute from live GBFS feeds | ||||
Toll cost Facility-level toll rates, peak / off-peak | ||||
CBD / downtown parking Real garage rates per metro, not a heuristic | ||||
Multi-user home finder Two commuters, one house — solve for both at once | ||||
Precomputed national hex grid GPU steady-state cost surface, sub-second response |
Honest footnote. They own live — real-time traffic, live arrivals. We own true steady-state cost — time and money — across 9 modes for the US + Canada.
The coverage behind the cost.
Why now. Gas crossed $5 a gallon in much of the country and families are making the biggest purchase of their lives — a home — without knowing the true, everyday cost of getting to work, school, and practice. Google Maps tells them the minutes. We tell them the money.
Frequently asked
How is CommutingCost different from Google Maps?
Google Maps tells you how long a trip takes. CommutingCost tells you what it actually costs — gas, tolls, parking, transit fares, bike-share, and rideshare — across 9 modes for the US and Canada. Google owns live, real-time data; we own true steady-state cost: time AND money.
What is the difference between CommutingCost and TravelTime?
TravelTime returns isochrone polygons of where you can reach by time. CommutingCost attaches a real dollar cost to every reachable area — toll rates, downtown parking, per-zone transit fares, and bike-share pricing — and covers 9 modes including park-and-ride and kiss-and-ride, not just the basic four.
How does CommutingCost compare to Esri drive-time analysis?
Esri's Network Analyst produces drive-time service areas, primarily for driving with limited transit. CommutingCost computes a precomputed national hex grid of true cost across 9 modes — driving, transit, walk, bike, rideshare, and rail combinations — with sub-second GPU response and a multi-user home finder that solves for two commuters at once.
What is the true cost of a commute?
The true cost of a commute is time plus money: gas at the right fuel grade, tolls (peak and off-peak), parking, transit fares for the actual origin-destination pair, bike-share unlock and per-minute fees, and rideshare. CommutingCost computes all of this from 723 transit fare feeds, 194 bike-share systems, facility-level tolls across 40 states plus Canada, and 1,515 downtown parking garages.
Is there a Google Maps alternative that shows commute cost, not just time?
Yes. CommutingCost is built specifically to show the real dollar cost of a commute alongside the travel time. Where Google Maps, TravelTime, and Esri stop at minutes, CommutingCost adds the money — fares, tolls, parking, and bike-share — across 9 modes for the US and Canada.
See the true cost of your commute.
Run any origin and destination across all 9 modes and get the real monthly and annual number — gas, tolls, parking, fares, and all.