How to add commute time to Google Calendar
To add commute time to Google Calendar, create a repeating event called "Commute" that covers your trip to work on the days you go in, mark it Busy, and add a second repeating event for the trip home. Google Calendar has no commute setting on the web, iPhone or Android, so a real event is the only thing that blocks the time and stops people booking an 8:30 call while you're on the train.
The steps on calendar.google.com:
- Look up your usual trip in Google Maps with Arrive by set to your start time, so the estimate includes rush-hour traffic or the timetable. Round it up.
- In Google Calendar, click the slot before you start work and create an event called "Commute to work" that ends when your day starts.
- Click Does not repeat and choose Custom. Set it to repeat weekly and tick only the days you go in (for a hybrid week, say Tuesday to Thursday).
- Leave Busy selected, and set the visibility to Private if you'd rather colleagues only see "busy".
- Save, then do the same for "Commute home" at the end of the day.
On the Google Calendar app the steps are the same: tap +, then Event, then Does not repeat → Custom to pick the days. You set it up once and it repeats indefinitely.
Where Travel Time fits
A repeating commute event works well for one fixed trip. It falls apart on the days your commute isn't the usual one: a morning at a client's office, an offsite, the dentist on the way in. The repeating event still says 40 minutes to the office, and nothing covers the trip you're actually making.
Travel Time handles those trips. You connect your Google Calendar (or Outlook) once and set a starting address, usually home. From then on it watches for events with a location:
- Travel time appears on its own. A "Travel time" event is created before each event that has an address, routed from your starting address, as a normal Google Calendar event that shows you as busy.
- Realistic estimates. Times come from Google's routing for the time you'll actually be travelling, by car, public transport, bike or on foot, rounded up to the next five minutes, with an optional 5 to 30 minute buffer for parking or a late train.
- Between meetings, too. With back-to-back appointments, the trip is routed from your previous meeting's location rather than from home.
- It follows your changes. Move the event or change its address and the travel time is updated to match. An "Add travel back" link blocks the trip home in one click.
One honest limit: Travel Time works from events with a location. If your office days aren't calendar events with an address, keep the repeating commute event for those and let Travel Time cover everything else. It's $3/month billed annually after a 14-day free trial, with no card needed to start.
| Repeating commute event | Travel Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks time on your calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Covers your usual office commute | Yes | If the office day is an event with an address |
| Covers trips to other places | No | Yes |
| Uses traffic or transit times for that day | No, fixed length | Yes |
| Moves when plans change | No | Yes |
| Cost | Free | $3/mo, billed annually |
Google Calendar settings that help (a little)
A few built-in features come up whenever people ask about commute time. They're useful, but none of them blocks the commute.
Working hours. In Settings → Working hours & location you can set the hours you work. Google Calendar then warns people who invite you outside those hours. If your commute sits outside them, that helps; if your day starts at 9 and you're still on the bus, it doesn't.
Working location. On work and school accounts, you can mark each day as office, home or another location. Colleagues see where you are, but Google Calendar doesn't add any time for getting there.
Speedy meetings. "Speedy meetings" in Event settings ends meetings you create 5 or 10 minutes early. It's a gap between meetings, not a commute.
Notifications. A notification 45 minutes before your first meeting can remind you to leave, but the time before it still looks free on your calendar.
Tips for commute time that holds up
- Use your worst normal day, not your best. If the trip is 35 minutes on a good day and 50 on a Monday, block 50. A commute event that's too short is the one that makes you late.
- Make the trip home a separate event. Then you can delete just one when you stay late or go straight to dinner.
- Mark it Busy, keep it Private. Busy stops bookings; Private hides the title from people who can see your calendar.
- Change one day, not the series. When you're working from home, delete that day's commute with This event so the rest of the series stays.
- Put full addresses on meetings outside the office. "Client office" can't be routed; "221 Main St, Springfield" can. That matters for your own Maps lookups and for any tool that reads your calendar.
Common questions
Does Google Calendar add commute time automatically? No. Google Calendar knows your working hours and, on work accounts, your working location, but it never puts the trip itself on your calendar. You add a repeating event yourself, or use a service like Travel Time that creates travel time for events with an address.
How do I add commute time on a hybrid schedule? Use Custom repeat and tick only your office days. If those days change week to week, delete or add single occurrences rather than editing the whole series.
Can I add commute time on my phone? Yes. The Google Calendar app on iPhone and Android both let you create a repeating event with custom days.
Will colleagues see my commute? They see you as busy. If the event is Private, they don't see the title.
Is there a commute setting in Outlook? No, Outlook has no commute or travel time field either; see how to add travel time to Outlook calendar.