Geoinformation systems and technologies have come into everyday life and have not been limited to Google maps for a long time. Logistics and transport, various deliveries, taxi services, and even delivery of goods by drones, and this is not a full list of areas of possible application of these innovations.
Technology companies have begun to frequently use a variety of APIs to more quickly integrate their business processes with software solutions. Every time you visit a page on the web, you are interacting with the API of the remote server. Using API, you reach out to the server and get a response.
We offer API from DistanceMatrix as a turnkey solution that will help you realize your ideas!
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Distance Matrix API
Our API provides a calculation of the trace duration, considering actual-time traffic conditions (traffic jams, restrictions, etc.) The distance is determined considering the division into categories by transport: users who drive a car, walk, use a bicycle or use public transport. The API also supports a traffic-free mode with an unlimited number of requests.
The distance matrix API predicts your travel time, considering the time of departure and arrival.
Calculate, evaluate and plan your routes to improve your customers’ online experience and increase your business efficiency!
How does it work?
The Matrix API returns the trip duration in seconds and the distance in meters to show the best trace between the coordinates of the selected points.
Simple case. You have two addresses in a standard format. The geocode API parses them into 2 coordinates. Points A and B on the map. Now, this data is suitable for further trace calculation.
The Distance Matrix API returns distance and travel time data for queries with point coordinates. The API response is in generic JSON format.
Some technical details: request and response format of this API is similar to the Google Distance Matrix API. You can use the two standard methods, GET and POST, to set parameters for making a request.
Real-time Distance Matrix API
The real-time request processing mode is indispensable for services where delivery time forecasting is important (taxi service, food delivery, etc.). It increases its versatility and integration into your services.
The query calculation time is up to 50 elements per second. You can get the needed data from the API in less than a second!
Distance Matrix without traffic monitoring
Trafic accounting in calculations is complicated enough. If you need quick answers and traffic is not important, then this solution is ideal for you. It is also 10 times faster than the previous onе and much cheaper.
The asynchronous Distance Matrix API
If you need to create large distance matrices with more than 1,000,000 data points, then the asynchronous distance matrix API is your best bet. It is a very convenient solution in the field of logistics and transport.
This solution offers unlimited sensor size and worldwide coverage. No matter where your business is located, you get data from anywhere in the world.
We offer an unlimited number of items in the request. It is worth considering that the response time depends on the request size. For asynchronous matrices with no traffic, response times can reach up to 300 elements per second. The price for this service will pleasantly surprise you!
For asynchronous matrices with traffic, we also do not set a limit on the number of items per request. But daily usage is limited to 80,000 items because this product combines both high volumes and traffic considerations when calculating travel time.
The Geocoding API
We briefly touched on this topic at the beginning of our article. This API converts street addresses from the standard representation to longitude and latitude coordinates. You only need to form a request – the service will do the rest and return the result to you.
How does Forward geocoding and Reverse geocoding work?
We have already reviewed the first option. Similarly, with a simple query, coordinates can be parsed into a standard address format.
We would like to note that our system uses machine learning and can analyze addresses and fill in gaps if they have ones. According to the test results, our geocoding accuracy competes with Google and even surpasses it.
Scope of the product
The distance matrix API is a helpful and necessary tool for determining the distance and time of a trace. Route optimization and the development of logistics schemes are only a minor part of the possible application areas of our product.
We have many case studies from clients who have used the tool to bring their business ideas to life. One of them created a driver-friendly app using DistanceMatix API data. This solution was developed for suppliers and distributors. Their goal is to improve the efficiency of routes. Make them economically profitable. A distance matrix estimate was required that would take into account traffic in real-time.
There are many similar examples, but it all depends on your courage to try to implement a business idea in practice. Everything related to the calculation of distance and travel time, conversion of coordinates, and addresses can be solved by Distance Matrix.