The Distance Matrix API is a modernized take on this glove box classic. You have complete control over the origins in each row and destinations ...
BlogSkiptocontentBlogMenuWhat'sNewProductNewsGoogleCloudGoogleWorkspaceChromeEnterpriseGoogleMapsPlatformSolutions&TechnologiesAI&MachineLearningAPIManagementApplicationDevelopmentCloudMigrationComputeContainers&KubernetesDataAnalyticsDatabasesDevOps&SREIdentity&SecurityInfrastructureNetworkingSAPServerlessStorage&DataTransferTopicsDevelopers&PractitionersPartnersInsideGoogleCloudTraining&CertificationsIndustriesFinancialServicesHealthcare&LifeSciencesMedia&EntertainmentPublicSectorTelecommunicationsRetailStartupsGoogleCloudNextCIOs&ITleadersAboutRSSFeed×ContactSalesGetstartedforfreeLateststoriesWhat'sNewProductNewsTopicsCIOs&ITleadersAboutRSSFeedGoogleMapsPlatformHowtoUsetheDistanceMatrixAPIDistanceMatrixPOIsYaronFidlerProductManager,GoogleMapsPlatformFebruary11,2020TryGoogleMapsPlatformUnlockaccesstorealworlddataandinsightswithamonthly$200GoogleMapsPlatformcredit.GETSTARTEDWhenyouuseGoogleMapsPlatformtoplotmultiplelocations,youcanseenearbymarkersvisually.However,theirtruedistanceisn’talwaysclear,especiallywhenfactoringintraffic.YoucanquantifyhowclosetwopointsarebycalculatingthedistanceusingtheMapsJavascriptAPI,butwhenyouwanttodeterminemanydistancesatonce,theDistanceMatrixAPIcanhelpyououtandgetallthedatayouneedinasinglecall.Forexample,youcannarrowalistofrestaurantsbydeliverytime,assignmultipledeliverydriversbasedonproximity,ordeterminethenearesttechniciantoacustomertodispatch. Inthispost,we’llshowyouhowtousetheDistanceMatrixAPIusingacommonusecase–techniciandispatching.First,it’simportanttounderstandallthedatathatisreturnedfromtheAPI,sowe’llstartwithabasicexampleidentifyingthedrivingdistancesbetweenmajorMidwesterncities.AddmapmarkersforeachcityBeforeyoucalculateanydistances,it’susefultoseethelocationsonamap.Todothat,you’llneedtocreatemarkersforourquintetofcities:Chicago,Milwaukee,Detroit,Indianapolis,andSt.Louis.Here’ssomeHTMLandJavaScripttocreateamapwiththesecitiesmarked:
FindyourAPIKeyintheGoogleCloudConsoleandputitinplaceofYOUR_API_KEYinthecodeabove.InadditiontocreatingabasicmapcenteredinthemidwesternUnitedStates,thecodeabovecreatesfivemarkers—oneforeachofthecitiesinourexample.Whenyousavethecodeandloaditinabrowser,you’llseeamapliketheoneabove.YoucanprobablytelljustbylookingwhichcityisclosesttoChicago,butlet’sseehowadistancematrixcanquantifythesolution.VisualizethedistancematrixwithamileagetableTheconceptbehindtheDistanceMatrixAPIcomesfromatimebeforesmartphonesandubiquitousGPS.Travelerswouldreferenceprintedmaterialstodeterminedrivingdistancesanddurations.Youcouldfindtwo-dimensionalmileagetableswithcitynamesalongtheleftsideandtop.Withinthosetables,foundonapapermapinyourcarorpostedonawallatagasstation,werethedistancesbetweenthecitiesineachrowandcolumn.IfyouwerenearChicago,forexample,youcouldquicklyreadacrossthefirstrowtoseethedistancetoMilwaukee(92miles)orDetroit(281miles).Thediagonalpatternofemptycellsisaquickheadsupthatyou’relookingatamileagetable—there’snodrivingfromChicagotoChicago,afterall.TheDistanceMatrixAPIisamodernizedtakeonthisgloveboxclassic.Youhavecompletecontrolovertheoriginsineachrowanddestinationsineachcolumn,whichallowsyoutorecreateaclassicdistancematrix,oruseasingleoriginwithmultipledestinations.Bestofall,there’snoneedtoprinttheseout.YoucanmakearequestandhaveyouranswerinJSONinseconds.CalculatedrivetimesfrommultipleoriginsDistancesbetweencitiesmaybefineforpaperroadmaps,buttoday’sapplicationshavemoregranularneedsthatcanbesupportedbytheDistanceMatrixAPI.Forexample,theAPIisusefulfordispatchanddelivery,whereyouhaveanumberoforiginsordestinations.Let’sseehowyoucanusetheDistanceMatrixAPItochoosetheclosestrepairtechnician.ThisusageoftheDistanceMatrixAPIincludesonedestination(thecustomer)andmultipleorigins(eachpotentialtechnician).We’llassumeyouknowthecurrentpositionofeachtechnician,suchasfromGPS.AddthefollowingcodetoyourmapJavaScriptafterthe //AddDistanceMatrixherecomment:constservice=newgoogle.maps.DistanceMatrixService();//instantiateDistanceMatrixservice
constmatrixOptions={
origins:["41.8848274,-87.6320859","41.878729,-87.6301087","41.8855277,-87.6440611"],//technicianlocations
destinations:["233SWackerDr,Chicago,IL60606"],//customeraddress
travelMode:'DRIVING',
unitSystem:google.maps.UnitSystem.IMPERIAL
};
//CallDistanceMatrixservice
service.getDistanceMatrix(matrixOptions,callback);
//CallbackfunctionusedtoprocessDistanceMatrixresponse
functioncallback(response,status){
if(status!=="OK"){
alert("Errorwithdistancematrix");
return;
}
console.log(response);
}
Sincethereisasingledestinationandmultipleorigins,theresultswillincludemultiplerows,eachwithasingleresult.Invisualdistancematrixterms,you’llbeparsingasinglecolumn.Whentheresultsarereturnedtothecallbackfunction,thecodesimplylogstheresponsetothebrowserconsole.Youcaninspectitwithyourbrowser’sdevelopertools,orreviewtheJSONpayload:{
"originAddresses":["120WRandolphSt,Chicago,IL60602,USA","204SClarkSt,Chicago,IL60604,USA","629NDesplainesSt,Chicago,IL60661,USA"],
"destinationAddresses":["233SWackerDr,Chicago,IL60606,USA"],
"rows":[{
"elements":[{
"status":"OK",
"duration":{
"Value":458,
"text":"8mins"
},
"distance":{
"value":1911,
"text":"1.2mi"
}
}],{
"elements":[{
"status":"OK",
"duration":{
"value":220,
"text":"4mins"
},
"distance":{
"value":924,
"text":"0.6mi"
}
}],{
"elements":[{
"status":"OK",
"duration":{
"value":383,
"text":"6mins"
},
"distance":{
"value":1531,
"text":"1.0mi"
}
}]
}]
}
Theoriginanddestinationaddressesarereturnedatthetopleveloftheresponse.Theycanhelpyoumakesenseofwhichdistanceiswhich.Theorigins,whichwereinputaslatitude/longitudecoordinates,haveautomaticallybeenreversegeocodedtothenearestaddress.Therowsarrayhasthreeitems,oneforeachorigin(thetechnicians).Withineachrow,thereisanelementsarraythatincludesaresultforeachdestination.Individualresultsincludeastatus,duration,anddistance.NowthatyouunderstandtheDistanceMatrixdata,you’llwanttouseit.Forexample,youcouldpopulateatable,sharedistancesonthemap,orsearchthroughfortheshortestdrive.FindthenearestlocationbydrivetimeWewanttodispatchthenearesttechniciantothecustomerlocation.Todothat,we’llparsethedistancematrixJSONtofindtheshortestdrivetime.Addthiscodeaftertheconsole.logoftheDistanceMatrixcallback:letroutes=response.rows[0].elements;
constleastseconds=86400;//24hours
letdrivetime="";
letclosest="";
for(leti=0;i0&&routeseconds
Google map API calculate distance Python