@cruunnerr
Thanks! That was it. I had it like that to begin with, but using a different fork, that did not allow the module to appear at all. I changed at some point and thought I was making progress.

Anyone else having issues with the map rendering streets / traffic /actual data rather than a blank frame? I have tried several of the forks, and they all end the same way. I have confirmed by use of MMM-Traffic that my API key is valid.

config.js:

modules: [
		{
			module: "alert",
		},
		{
			module: "updatenotification",
			position: "top_bar"
		},
 // added Modules 
                {
                        module: 'MMM-GoogleMapsTraffic',
                        position: 'bottom_right',
                        config: {
                                key: '************************',
                                lat: '30.00000',
                                lng: '-90.000000',
                                height: '300px',
                                width: '300px'
	  	            }
                },
		{
			module: 'MMM-Traffic',
			position: 'top_right',
			classes: 'dimmed medium', //optional, default is 'bright medium', only applies to commute info not route_name
			config: {
				api_key: '*******',
				mode: 'driving',
				origin: '**********',
				destination: '*********',
			//	mon_destination: '116th St & Broadway, New York, NY 10027',
			//	fri_destination: '1 E 161st St, Bronx, NY 10451',
				arrival_time: '0755', //optional, but needs to be in 24 hour time if used.
				route_name: 'Home to Work',
				changeColor: true,
				showGreen: false,
				limitYellow: 5, //Greater than 5% of journey time due to traffic
				limitRed: 20, //Greater than 20% of journey time due to traffic
				traffic_model: 'pessimistic',
				interval: 60000, //1 minutes
				showWeekend: false,
				allTime: false,
				startHr: 5,
				endHr:   10,
				hideOffHours: true
			}
		},

  //end of Module adds
		{
			module: "compliments",
			position: "lower_third"
		},
]