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Mapbox Plugin – Capabilities for Ride Tracking

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#1

Hi Zeroqode team,

We’re evaluating your Mapbox plugin for a ride tracking feature in Bubble. Before committing, we’d like to confirm whether the plugin supports the following core needs:

1. Pet Owners need to see pickup and drop-off markers (already confirmed this works).
2. Pet Owners need to track the Handler’s GPS location in real time, including:
	○ a route/line to their pickup and drop-off points
	○ dynamic updates as the Handler moves
	○ estimated arrival times to each destination
3. Handlers need to see a live-updating route line from their current position to their next destination (pickup or drop-off).
4. Bubble needs to be able to capture and store distance traveled for billing workflows (e.g., extra charges beyond a set radius).

Could you confirm which of these are supported natively by the plugin, and which would require custom API integration?

Thanks for your help!

#2

Hi Reginald,

Thanks for clarifying what you’re aiming to achieve. The good news is that the Mapbox Maps plugin can cover all the key pieces you’ve described. Pickup and drop-off markers are already working for you, and the same setup can be extended to show the handler’s live position. As the handler’s device sends updated GPS coordinates, you can display their moving marker on the owner’s map, together with a route line toward the pickup or drop-off point. That route can be recalculated on a repeating basis, so the line updates dynamically as the handler moves, and each refresh also returns an updated ETA in seconds.

On the handler’s side, the process is very similar: their map view can draw a live-updating route from their current position to whichever destination is next in sequence, whether it’s the pickup or the drop-off. This keeps both parties in sync in real time.

For billing, the plugin also returns the total distance in meters whenever a route is requested. You can store that value at the end of the trip to calculate charges, or even use it during the ride to monitor when the distance exceeds a set threshold and apply extra fees. Combined with a simple arrival check — for example, triggering an event when the remaining distance is below a certain number of meters — this gives you a complete framework for tracking, routing, and charging all in one flow.

In short, all of the functionality you described can be implemented with the Mapbox plugin, with the only extra step being to refresh the route and ETA periodically rather than expecting them to update automatically.

If you have any follow-up questions, I will be glad to explain more.

Best regards,
Egor Smorodinov,
Support Team
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#3

Thank you, Egor

I’ve managed to accomplish some of the things I wanted with the help of Zeroqode’s AI bot.

I’ve managed to get markers going and live tracking of the handler for both the handler and the customer’s view.

The tricky part I’m currently working through is the line. It’s not updating, and it draws a straight line from the handler to the destination that seems to ignore turns and routes, etc, almost as if someone used a marker to draw a line across the map.

I’ve been working with the chatbot to try and iron this out.

If I have any questions, you’ll definitely hear from me again hahaha

#4

Hi @knocode,

That’s great progress — awesome to hear you already have markers and live tracking running :clap:

For the tricky part with the line: what you’re seeing right now (a straight line from handler to destination, ignoring roads and turns) happens because the map is just connecting two coordinates with a polyline. To render a proper road-following path that updates as the handler moves, you’ll need to switch to using the “Draw Route” action from the Mapbox plugin. This action calls the Mapbox Directions API, which recalculates and returns the real route geometry based on roads and can dynamically redraw as your handler’s GPS changes.

So in practice, instead of drawing a static line, you’d build a workflow that:

  • Takes the handler’s current GPS position as the origin,
  • Uses the pickup or drop-off as the destination, and
  • Calls Draw Route to update the map with the actual road path.

That’ll give you the dynamic, turn-by-turn route you’re aiming for. You can find more details in our docs here: Mapbox Maps Plugin Documentation.

And one more quick note: while AI chatbots can be useful for experimenting, you’ll usually get clearer and faster help if you post your detailed questions here or reach out to us via email. We’re always happy to dig into your exact setup and point you in the right direction.

Best regards,
Support Team
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