The Global Travel Time Map

The Global Accessibility Mapping Project shows how long it takes to travel to the nearest high-density urban center, from any point on Earth. The map was made using OpenStreetMap data with distance-to-roads data from the Google roads database. It was created through a collaboration of the Malaria Atlas Project (Oxford University), Google, the Joint Research Centre of the European Union, and the University of Twente.

The map can be used to identify areas of the world where populations have low accessibility to urban centres. Used with population data the atlas can be used to identify populations with poor access to work, educational attainment and healthcare.

The Guardian has printed a number of country maps which use the Global Accessibility Mapping Project data to show the Daily Commute Travel Times to Cities Around the World. You can view an interactive mapped version of the same data on the Malaria Atlas Explorer (to view the map you need to select the 'Layer Catalogue', then 'Surfaces', then 'Human Population' and then finally select the 'Accessibility 2015' layer). You can also view an interactive version of the map at Roadless Forest. The Roadless Forest map allows you to compare the new global accessibility map with the previous accessibility map from 2009.