Available vehicle types for routes

  • The Routes API offers route options tailored to various vehicle types, including cars, two-wheelers, transit, and eco-friendly options, or defaults to a gasoline car if unspecified.

  • You can specify your preferred mode of transportation using the travelMode parameter, selecting from options such as transit, driving, two-wheeled vehicles, walking, or bicycling.

  • Walking, bicycling, and two-wheel routes are currently in beta and may lack comprehensive pedestrian or cycling paths, requiring a user warning in your application.
European Economic Area (EEA) developers

You can get a route suited to different types of vehicles. If you don't specify a vehicle type, the Routes API uses the default of a gasoline-powered car (DRIVE).

To set the mode of transportation in a computeRoutes HTTP POST request, pass the travelMode field in the JSON request body using a RouteTravelMode enum value, with choices of transit, driving, two-wheeled vehicles, trucks, walking, or bicycling.

Vehicle type RouteTravelMode value Description
Bicycle BICYCLE Compute a route for bicycles and other human-powered travel. For motorized two-wheeled vehicles, see Two-wheeled vehicle.
Drive DRIVE Compute a driving route. DRIVE is the default if you don't specify a vehicle type.
Transit TRANSIT Get a transit route for navigation instructions using the public transportation options available in the region. Transit options can include buses, subways, and trains, among others. A transit route also usually includes instructions on walking to, from, and between transit stations.
Two-wheeled vehicle TWO_WHEELER Two-wheeler refers to two-wheeled motorized vehicles (for example, motorcycles). The two-wheeler travel mode differs from the bicycle travel mode, which is a human-powered travel mode.
Truck TRUCK Compute a route customized for a large vehicle by specifying its physical attributes and constraints in routeModifiers.vehicleInfo. Use this vehicle type to avoid low bridges, weight restrictions, and hazards.
Walk WALK Compute a walking route.

Specify the travel mode in a request

To specify a travel mode in a computeRoutes request, set the travelMode field in the HTTP POST JSON request body and include the required X-Goog-FieldMask header to select the Route response fields you need. If you're migrating from the legacy Directions API, the travelMode field in the POST JSON request body replaces the legacy mode URL query parameter. For more information, see Migrate to the Routes API.

curl -X POST -d '{
  "origin": {
    "location": {
      "latLng": {
        "latitude": 37.419734,
        "longitude": -122.0827784
      }
    }
  },
  "destination": {
    "location": {
      "latLng": {
        "latitude": 37.417670,
        "longitude": -122.079595
      }
    }
  },
  "travelMode": "BICYCLE"
}' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'X-Goog-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'X-Goog-FieldMask: routes.duration,routes.distanceMeters,routes.polyline.encodedPolyline' \
'https://routes.googleapis.com/directions/v2:computeRoutes'