Distance Matrix API

The Matrix API calculates travel times and distances between every combination of origins and destinations in a single request. Typical use cases include finding the nearest driver or technician to a job, solving vehicle routing problems, estimating delivery time windows for customers, and calculating service area coverage for facility planning.

The Directions API returns a single detailed route between two points, including turn instructions and geometry. The Matrix API returns a table of distances and durations for multiple origin-destination pairs without route geometry. If you need to compare many locations efficiently, the Matrix API is faster and more cost-effective than making individual Directions calls.

The API supports matrices up to 100 origins by 100 destinations in a single request, giving up to 10,000 origin-destination pairs per call. Matrices do not need to be square: you can send 1 origin by 100 destinations for a nearest-location lookup, or 50 by 50 for a full fleet-to-customer assignment.

The Matrix API supports driving, walking, cycling, and public transit. The travel mode is set per request. All pairs in a single request use the same mode. If you need mixed-mode results, send separate requests for each mode and merge the responses in your application.

By default the Matrix API uses free-flow road speeds representative of typical travel conditions. Real-time traffic-adjusted durations are available on eligible plans. Set the departure_time parameter to a future timestamp to receive time-of-day travel estimates based on historical traffic patterns.

Send your single query location as the origin and your list of candidate locations as destinations. The API returns the travel time and distance from the query point to every candidate in one call. Sort the response by duration to find the nearest option. This is significantly more efficient than calling the Directions API in a loop for each candidate.