To run a group ride in Traxl, create a trip with your stops, share the QR, verify each rider who joins, and start. Traxl then shows everyone on one map and tells you as each rider reaches each stop. The whole setup takes about ten minutes, and you can start alone and verify latecomers on the road. This guide goes through it in order; if you are still choosing an app, start with our group ride tracking comparison.
What do you need before you start?
- Traxl from Google Play on your phone and on each rider’s phone (Android now; iPhone coming soon).
- Riders aged 18 or over: trips are for adults.
- Location set to “Allow all the time” and battery optimisation switched off for Traxl on every phone, so tracking does not stop mid-ride.
How do you plan the route?
1. Create the trip. On the Traxl home screen open the Trips section and tap Create a trip. Name it and add your stops in order. The first stop is where the group gathers.
2. Add each stop. Tap Add a stop. The map opens on your GPS position; use the crosshair button to jump back to it, or search for a place, or move the map under the pin. Each stop gets a 5 km arrival zone by default; tap the radius to choose 100 m, 500 m, 1 km, 2 km or 5 km.
3. Decide if everyone returns. Leave Return to start on to add a final stop at your first point, so the trip only finishes when everyone is back.
How do you get everyone in?
4. Share the QR. Create the trip, then tap Share QR. Traxl sends a picture with the trip name, the QR and the link, so people can scan it from your screen or tap the link.
5. Verify who joins. Riders who scan the QR wait in a queue. Open the lobby and tap Verify for each person you know. Anyone you do not recognise, tap Remove.
6. Start the trip. Tap Start trip. You can start with just yourself and verify late joiners while it is live. From now on every verified rider is on one map.
Free accounts can create 2 trips a month with up to 3 riders and 4 stops; Traxl Plus lifts that to 50 trips a month, 50 riders and 15 stops. Name a co-organizer in the lobby (one on the free plan, three on Plus) so the trip can carry on if your phone dies.
What do you do during the ride?
7. Follow the ride. The header shows the leg you are on. Each rider is listed with how far they are from the stop. Tap a rider to see the distance from you and open Google Maps navigation to them.
8. Handle a rider who goes quiet. If a rider's phone dies, goes offline or loses location permission, Traxl shows the reason. Call them, ask them to check in, and once you know they have arrived tap Approve arrival. Or continue without them.
9. Change the route. Open the menu and tap Edit route. Before the start you can change anything; once live, finished stops stay and the stops still ahead can be added, removed, moved or resized. Riders are told.
What do you get when it ends?
10. End the trip and read the report. The trip ends by itself when everyone is back at the final stop, or you can end it. Finished trips stay under Past trips on the home screen, each with a full report.
The report has an overview (riders, stops, duration, group distance, top speed), highlights (fastest, furthest, last into the most stops), a stop-by-stop timeline with the gap between the first and last rider, and a breakdown per rider. Braking and acceleration counts are estimates from changes in speed.
What does a trip share, and with whom?
Only verified riders see each other, only while the trip is live, and sharing stops when it ends or you leave. Nothing about your Circles changes. See the privacy policy for the details.