OpenTimes – Free travel times between U.S. Census geographies
Hi HN! Today I'm launching OpenTimes, a free database of roughly 150 billion pre-computed, point-to-point travel times between United States Census geographies. In addition to letting you visualize travel isochrones on the homepage, OpenTimes also lets you download massive amounts of travel time data for free and with no limits. The primary goal here is to enable research and fill a gap I noticed in the open-source spatial ecosystem. Researchers (social scientists, economists, etc.) use large travel time matrices to quantify things like access to healthcare, but they often end up paying…
OpenTimes – Free travel times between U.S. Census geographies launched on March 17, 2025 with 207 votes, #185 of 7,215 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.
In plain words
OpenTimes is a free database containing approximately 150 billion pre-computed travel times between U.S. Census geographies. Researchers in social science, economics, and urban planning can download unlimited travel time data via SQL queries or visualize travel isochrones on the homepage. The tool aims to reduce costs for accessibility research by providing publicly available travel time matrices that would otherwise require paid services from commercial providers.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hi HN! Today I'm launching OpenTimes, a free database of roughly 150 billion pre-computed, point-to-point travel times between United States Census geographies. In addition to letting you visualize travel isochrones on the homepage, OpenTimes also lets you download massive amounts of travel time data for free and…
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