“Time to leave” in calendar lined out (new, iOS 17.5.1)

creating new calendar entry on iPhone SE (2nd gen) running IOS 17.5.1 and I find “time to leave” alert option lined out with the message, “Requires Alerts & Shortcuts Automations to be enabled.”

has anyone had and solved this problem in IOS 17?

i’ve searched my settings, googled, read unhelpful article in Apple Support telling how to set automations in the “shortcuts” app I never noticed I had, and read posts about this problem in old versions- for different reasons - and I can’t seem to find the answer.