Glossary
The same drive-time polygon gets called different names by different industries. This glossary defines every key term plainly, with specific numbers and a link to the relevant tool. Start with isochrone if you want the technical foundation, or service area if you want the business framing.
Also: Bike shed, Cycling radius, Cycling isochrone
A bikeshed is the area reachable by bicycle from a given point within a fixed time. It is the cycling-mode equivalent of a drive-time polygon and is used in bike-infrastructure planning and multimodal accessibility analysis.
Also: Catchment zone, Draw area, Market area
A catchment area is the geographic zone from which a business or institution draws its customers, patients, students, or residents. It is the inbound counterpart to a service area.
Also: Delivery area, Delivery radius
A delivery zone is the drive-time area within which a business will deliver goods or prepared food. Unlike a service area, it is often constrained by product quality — not just drive time.
Also: Drive-time isochrone, Driving isochrone, Travel-time polygon
A drive-time polygon is the geometric shape representing all locations reachable from an origin within a given driving time. It is the GIS term for a driving isochrone.
Also: Travel-time polygon, Drive-time polygon, Reach polygon
An isochrone is a line connecting all points reachable within the same travel time from a single origin. The enclosed polygon shows the full reachable area.
Also: Rep territory, Account territory, Franchise territory
A sales territory is the geographic area a sales rep or team is assigned to cover. Territories are designed to balance workload, revenue potential, and fair earning opportunity across a sales force.
Also: Coverage area, Service zone, Service territory
A service area is the geographic zone a business commits to serving, typically defined by drive time rather than straight-line distance.
Also: Retail trade area, Market zone, Retail catchment
A trade area is the geographic zone from which a retail store or shopping center draws the majority of its customers. It is the retail-specific form of a catchment area.
Also: Travel-time radius, Reach map, Time-distance map
A travel-time map visualizes all locations reachable from an origin within a given time, using the shape of an isochrone rather than a distance circle. The generic term covers driving, walking, cycling, and transit modes.
Also: Ped shed, Pedestrian shed, Walking isochrone
A walkshed is the area a pedestrian can reach on foot from a given point within a fixed time. It is the walking-mode equivalent of a drive-time polygon and the foundation of walkability analysis.
RadiusMapper