Snap to Roads

  • The Roads API snaps GPS points to the nearest roads, supporting up to 100 points per request and offering optional path interpolation.

  • Requests are made via HTTPS using a specified URL with required path and optional interpolate parameters.

  • Responses are in JSON format, providing snapped point locations, place IDs, and potential warnings.

  • An interactive map demo is available for users to visualize and experiment with the API's functionality.

  • Optimal snapping requires input points to be relatively close together, ideally within a few city blocks.

The Roads API takes up to 100 GPS points collected along a route, and returns a similar set of data, with the points snapped to the most likely roads the vehicle was traveling along. Optionally, you can request that the points be interpolated, resulting in a path that smoothly follows the geometry of the road.

Requests

You must send requests to snap to road using HTTPS in the following form:

https://roads.googleapis.com/v1/snapToRoads?parameters&key=YOUR_API_KEY

Required parameters

  • path

    The path to be snapped. The path parameter accepts a list of latitude/longitude pairs. Latitude and longitude values should be separated by commas. Coordinates should be separated by the pipe character: "|". For example: path=60.170880,24.942795|60.170879,24.942796|60.170877,24.942796.

    Note: The snapping algorithm works best for points that are not too far apart. If you observe odd snapping behavior, try creating paths that have points closer together. To ensure the best snap-to-road quality, you should aim to provide paths on which consecutive pairs of points are within 300m of each other. This will also help in handling any isolated, long jumps between consecutive points caused by GPS signal loss, or noise.

Optional parameters

  • interpolate

    Whether to interpolate a path to include all points forming the full road-geometry. When true, additional interpolated points will also be returned, resulting in a path that smoothly follows the geometry of the road, even around corners and through tunnels. Interpolated paths will most likely contain more points than the original path. Defaults to false.

Examples

The following request snaps the specified points to the road geometry. This particular set of data follows a circular road; setting interpolate=true makes the returned geometry match the curvature of the road. With interpolate=false, the snapped path still follows the road, but the resulting polyline isn't as smooth.

URL

https://roads.googleapis.com/v1/snapToRoads
  ?interpolate=true
  &path=-35.27801%2C149.12958%7C-35.28032%2C149.12907%7C-35.28099%2C149.12929%7C-35.28144%2C149.12984%7C-35.28194%2C149.13003%7C-35.28282%2C149.12956%7C-35.28302%2C149.12881%7C-35.28473%2C149.12836
  &key=YOUR_API_KEY

cURL

curl -L -X GET 'https://roads.googleapis.com/v1/snapToRoads?path=-35.27801%2C149.12958%7C-35.28032%2C149.12907%7C-35.28099%2C149.12929%7C-35.28144%2C149.12984%7C-35.28194%2C149.13003%7C-35.28282%2C149.12956%7C-35.28302%2C149.12881%7C-35.28473%2C149.12836&interpolate=true&key=YOUR_API_KEY'

Responses

For each valid request, the Roads API returns a response in the format indicated within the request URL such as the following JSON response.

{
  "snappedPoints":
    [
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.27800489993019, "longitude": 149.129531998742 },
        "originalIndex": 0,
        "placeId": "ChIJr_xl0GdNFmsRsUtUbW7qABM",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2784195, "longitude": 149.12946589999999 },
        "placeId": "ChIJr_xl0GdNFmsRsUtUbW7qABM",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2784195, "longitude": 149.12946589999999 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ6aXGemhNFmsRZE_zHqhmrG4",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2792731, "longitude": 149.12933809999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ6aXGemhNFmsRZE_zHqhmrG4",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2792731, "longitude": 149.12933809999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJTcTdZ2hNFmsRXokM4mWCWfk",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.279557, "longitude": 149.1292973 },
        "placeId": "ChIJTcTdZ2hNFmsRXokM4mWCWfk",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.279557, "longitude": 149.1292973 },
        "placeId": "ChIJiUfNQmhNFmsRSsAI-1m6y1g",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.279610999999996, "longitude": 149.1292889 },
        "placeId": "ChIJiUfNQmhNFmsRSsAI-1m6y1g",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2796484, "longitude": 149.1292791 },
        "placeId": "ChIJiUfNQmhNFmsRSsAI-1m6y1g",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2796484, "longitude": 149.1292791 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ_RyFQ2hNFmsRoHJAbW7qABM",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.279947299999996, "longitude": 149.1291894 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ_RyFQ2hNFmsRoHJAbW7qABM",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.279947299999996, "longitude": 149.1291894 },
        "placeId": "ChIJOyypT2hNFmsRZBtscGL0htw",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.280323564795005, "longitude": 149.1290903128365 },
        "originalIndex": 1,
        "placeId": "ChIJOyypT2hNFmsRZBtscGL0htw",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2803426, "longitude": 149.12908529999999 },
        "placeId": "ChIJOyypT2hNFmsRZBtscGL0htw",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2803426, "longitude": 149.12908529999999 },
        "placeId": "ChIJr8xRTGhNFmsRzMb-rxgjspc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.280409899999995, "longitude": 149.1290699 },
        "placeId": "ChIJr8xRTGhNFmsRzMb-rxgjspc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.28048179999999, "longitude": 149.129062 },
        "placeId": "ChIJr8xRTGhNFmsRzMb-rxgjspc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2805541, "longitude": 149.1290623 },
        "placeId": "ChIJr8xRTGhNFmsRzMb-rxgjspc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.280626, "longitude": 149.1290712 },
        "placeId": "ChIJr8xRTGhNFmsRzMb-rxgjspc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.280626, "longitude": 149.1290712 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.280695099999996, "longitude": 149.12908489999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2807629, "longitude": 149.1291046 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2808294, "longitude": 149.1291306 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2809064, "longitude": 149.1291693 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.280968200000004, "longitude": 149.129208 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28101395754623, "longitude": 149.1292430025548 },
        "originalIndex": 2,
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28103840000001, "longitude": 149.1292617 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2810936, "longitude": 149.1293121 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2810979, "longitude": 149.1293176 },
        "placeId": "ChIJv5r0smlNFmsR5nunau79Fv4",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2810979, "longitude": 149.1293176 },
        "placeId": "ChIJpYMSrmlNFmsRXkCoIkZxgBg",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281152399999996, "longitude": 149.1294256 },
        "placeId": "ChIJpYMSrmlNFmsRXkCoIkZxgBg",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281152399999996, "longitude": 149.1294256 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2811784, "longitude": 149.1294706 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2812258, "longitude": 149.1295413 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2812771, "longitude": 149.12960759999999 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.281332, "longitude": 149.1296695 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2813904, "longitude": 149.12972670000002 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281451700000005, "longitude": 149.1297788 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28146506991143, "longitude": 149.12978858234607 },
        "originalIndex": 3,
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28151580000001, "longitude": 149.1298257 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.28158259999999, "longitude": 149.129867 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281666099999995, "longitude": 149.1299091 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2817377, "longitude": 149.1299379 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281810899999996, "longitude": 149.1299602 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281884999999996, "longitude": 149.1299765 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28194399606459, "longitude": 149.1299842294294 },
        "originalIndex": 4,
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.281959799999996, "longitude": 149.12998629999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282035199999996, "longitude": 149.1299895 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2821254, "longitude": 149.1299851 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282199999999996, "longitude": 149.1299743 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2822739, "longitude": 149.1299573 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2823468, "longitude": 149.129934 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2824178, "longitude": 149.1299043 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2824379, "longitude": 149.1298945 },
        "placeId": "ChIJ601MoWlNFmsR5mvkfPp2ovA",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2824379, "longitude": 149.1298945 },
        "placeId": "ChIJe9LPnWlNFmsR7mJw8mYHwG0",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282472999999996, "longitude": 149.1298835 },
        "placeId": "ChIJe9LPnWlNFmsR7mJw8mYHwG0",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2825375, "longitude": 149.1298525 },
        "placeId": "ChIJe9LPnWlNFmsR7mJw8mYHwG0",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28257309999999, "longitude": 149.1298319 },
        "placeId": "ChIJe9LPnWlNFmsR7mJw8mYHwG0",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28257309999999, "longitude": 149.1298319 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282665400000006, "longitude": 149.12974459999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28274030000001, "longitude": 149.1296645 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282809799999995, "longitude": 149.12957799999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28282136229385, "longitude": 149.12956142620385 },
        "originalIndex": 5,
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2828744, "longitude": 149.1294854 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282922299999996, "longitude": 149.1294044 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.282931500000004, "longitude": 149.1293876 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2830263, "longitude": 149.1291788 },
        "placeId": "ChIJaUpThGlNFmsRMHWxoH7EOsc",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2830263, "longitude": 149.1291788 },
        "placeId": "ChIJyd3JiWlNFmsR9RUq2ySTTZQ",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.283054, "longitude": 149.1290996 },
        "placeId": "ChIJyd3JiWlNFmsR9RUq2ySTTZQ",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2830794, "longitude": 149.1290094 },
        "placeId": "ChIJyd3JiWlNFmsR9RUq2ySTTZQ",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2830794, "longitude": 149.1290094 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28313383700836, "longitude": 149.12893500604946 },
        "originalIndex": 6,
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.283134499999996, "longitude": 149.12893409999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.283190399999995, "longitude": 149.1288668 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2832503, "longitude": 149.1288041 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2833133, "longitude": 149.1287463 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2833794, "longitude": 149.128694 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.283448299999996, "longitude": 149.128647 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2835199, "longitude": 149.1286054 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2835934, "longitude": 149.1285699 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.283668899999995, "longitude": 149.12854059999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28372649999999, "longitude": 149.1285237 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28386179999999, "longitude": 149.12849319999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2839978, "longitude": 149.1284682 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2840205, "longitude": 149.12846779999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJWSb8ImpNFmsRp_4JAxJFE1A",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2840205, "longitude": 149.12846779999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJZe8tFWpNFmsR4brZ1vldk2E",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.2840524, "longitude": 149.12845969999998 },
        "placeId": "ChIJZe8tFWpNFmsR4brZ1vldk2E",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.284341500000004, "longitude": 149.1284124 },
        "placeId": "ChIJZe8tFWpNFmsR4brZ1vldk2E",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2843875, "longitude": 149.1284034 },
        "placeId": "ChIJZe8tFWpNFmsR4brZ1vldk2E",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2843875, "longitude": 149.1284034 },
        "placeId": "ChIJVx7Ta2pNFmsRx9OI9CnN5tI",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2845916, "longitude": 149.1283726 },
        "placeId": "ChIJVx7Ta2pNFmsRx9OI9CnN5tI",
      },
      {
        "location": { "latitude": -35.2845916, "longitude": 149.1283726 },
        "placeId": "ChIJtWxAZmpNFmsRlbUCkc6VtnA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.28459730000001, "longitude": 149.1283703 },
        "placeId": "ChIJtWxAZmpNFmsRlbUCkc6VtnA",
      },
      {
        "location":
          { "latitude": -35.284728747199374, "longitude": 149.12834860726772 },
        "originalIndex": 7,
        "placeId": "ChIJtWxAZmpNFmsRlbUCkc6VtnA",
      },
    ],
}

The response uses the following schema.

SnapToRoadsResponse

Field Required Type Description
optional Array<SnappedPoint>

An array of snapped points.

See SnappedPoint for more information.

optional string

A string containing a user-visible warning.

SnappedPoint

Field Required Type Description
required LatitudeLongitudeLiteral See LatitudeLongitudeLiteral for more information.
required string

A unique identifier for a place. All place IDs returned by the Roads API correspond to road segments.

optional number

An integer that indicates the corresponding value in the original request. Each value in the request should map to a snapped value in the response. However, if you've set interpolate=true or if you're using nearest roads, then it's possible that the response will contain more coordinates than the request. Interpolated values will not have an originalIndex. These values are indexed from 0, so a point with an originalIndex of 4 will be the snapped value of the 5th latitude/longitude passed to the path parameter. Nearest Roads points may contain several points for single coordinates with differing location or placeId.

LatitudeLongitudeLiteral

An object describing a specific location with Latitude and Longitude in decimal degrees.

Field Required Type Description
required number

Latitude in decimal degrees
required number

Longitude in decimal degrees