How to add drive time to Google Calendar
To add drive time to Google Calendar, create a separate event for the drive that ends when your meeting starts and lasts as long as Google Maps says the trip takes. Google Calendar has no drive time field on the web, iPhone or Android, so this event is the only thing that actually blocks the time and shows you as busy.
The steps on calendar.google.com:
- Open the meeting and click its location. It opens in Google Maps.
- Choose driving, set the origin to where you'll be beforehand (often the previous meeting, not home), and switch Leave now to Arrive by the meeting's start time. Maps then estimates the drive with typical traffic for that hour.
- Round the estimate up and add a few minutes for parking and walking in.
- Back in Google Calendar, click the empty slot right before the meeting and create an event called "Drive to [place]" that ends when the meeting starts.
- Leave it set to Busy and save. Repeat for the drive to your next meeting or back to the office.
That's the whole method. It works, and for one or two meetings a week it's all you need.
Where Travel Time fits
The manual way gets old once you drive between meetings most days. You repeat the steps for every appointment, the estimate is frozen the moment you type it in, and when a meeting moves the drive event stays behind.
Travel Time does those steps for you. You connect your Google Calendar (or Outlook) once, and it watches for events with a location:
- Drive time appears on its own. An event like "Travel time (driving)" is created before each meeting that has an address, as a normal Google Calendar event that blocks the time on every device and for anyone checking your availability.
- Traffic-aware estimates. Driving times come from Google's routing with traffic for the time you'll actually be on the road, rounded up to the next five minutes, plus an optional buffer of 5 to 30 minutes for parking.
- Between meetings, not just from home. With back-to-back appointments, the drive is routed from your previous meeting's location.
- It follows your changes. Move the meeting or change its address and the drive time is updated to match.
- Not always driving? Switch a single trip to public transport, cycling or walking from a link in the travel event, or set a different default. An "Add travel back" link in the event blocks the return drive in one click.
It's $3/month billed annually after a 14-day free trial, and you don't need a card to start.
| Manual drive event | Travel Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks time on your calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Uses traffic for that time of day | If you set "Arrive by" | Yes |
| Routes from your previous meeting | Only if you check | Yes |
| Moves when the meeting moves | No | Yes |
| Effort per meeting | About a minute | None |
| Cost | Free | $3/mo, billed annually |
Google Calendar settings that help (a little)
A few built-in settings get mentioned whenever someone asks about drive time. They're worth knowing, but none of them actually blocks the drive.
The location link. Every event with an address links to Google Maps. That's how you find the drive time, but Google Calendar never puts that time on your calendar.
Speedy meetings. In Settings → Event settings, "Speedy meetings" ends new meetings you create 5 or 10 minutes early. It only affects events you create, the gap is fixed, and 10 minutes rarely covers a real drive.
Buffer time on appointment schedules. If clients book you through a Google Calendar appointment schedule (a paid Workspace feature), you can add buffer time between booked appointments. It's the same gap whether the next appointment is next door or an hour away, and it doesn't apply to meetings booked any other way.
Notifications. You can set a custom notification, say 45 minutes before, so your phone tells you when to leave. The time before the meeting still looks free, so someone can book a call into your drive.
Apple Calendar's travel time. If you also use an iPhone, Apple Calendar has a real travel time field, but it stays in Apple Calendar and isn't saved to Google Calendar. More on that in why Google Calendar travel time is not showing.
Tips for drive time that holds up
Whether you add drive time by hand or automatically, a few habits make it more accurate:
- Put the full address in the location field. "Client office" can't be routed; "221 Main St, Springfield" can. This matters for manual lookups and for any tool reading your calendar.
- Estimate from where you'll actually be. The drive from your 10am meeting to your 11:30 is not the drive from home. Getting the origin wrong is the most common reason manual drive time is off.
- Check traffic for the right hour. A 20-minute drive at 11am can be 45 minutes at 5pm. Use "Arrive by" in Google Maps rather than "Leave now".
- Add a parking buffer. Five to fifteen minutes covers parking, the lift and signing in at reception, and it's the part estimates always forget.
- Don't forget the drive back. If your last meeting is across town, block the trip home or to the office too, or the afternoon will look free when it isn't.
Drive time for different kinds of days
One off-site meeting a week: a manual drive event is fine. It's a minute of work.
The same drive to the office every day: that's a commute, and a repeating event handles it better than one-off drive events; see how to add commute time to Google Calendar.
Several client visits a day (sales reps, real estate agents, tradespeople, home care): the manual method breaks down. You're making two extra events per visit, and every reschedule means fixing them. This is where automating it pays for itself; see how on-the-go professionals use Travel Time.
Other people book your calendar: drive time has to be a real, busy event, or colleagues and booking tools will see the gap as free. Reminders and Apple Calendar's travel time don't do that; a Google Calendar event does.
Common questions
Does Google Calendar add drive time automatically? No. Google Calendar shows an event's location and links to Google Maps, but it never creates drive time on your calendar. You need to add an event yourself or use a service like Travel Time that creates it for you.
Can I add drive time between meetings on my phone? Yes, the same way: create an event before the meeting in the Google Calendar app. Step-by-step guides for iPhone and Android cover the details.
Will other people see my drive time? If it's a Google Calendar event marked Busy, yes: they see you as busy, and if you share event details they see the title too. Notifications and Apple Calendar's travel time aren't visible to them.
Related guides
- How to Add Commute Time to Google Calendar (2 Ways)
- How to Add Travel Time in Google Calendar (And Why Other Tools Fall Short)
- How to Add Travel Time to Google Calendar on Android (3 Ways)
- Why Every On-the-Go Professional Needs Travel Time
- How to Add Travel Time to Outlook Calendar (2 Ways, 1 Automatic)