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The Roads API is a service that accepts HTTPS requests with
latitude/longitude coordinates for one or more points on a map. It uses these
points to find nearby road segments and returns a Place ID along with metadata
such as the nearest road segment and speed limits.
Why use the Roads API
With the Roads API, you can get speed limits, estimated
arrival times, or other road metadata. With this road
metadata, you can enhance your driving apps with the follow capabilities:
Connect latitude/longitude coordinates with a road or roads.
Find the nearest road for a set of coordinates
Get speed limits for road segments
What you can do with the Roads API
With the Roads API, you can map GPS coordinates to the
geometry of the road, and determine the speed limit along road
segments.
Snap to Roads This service returns the most likely
roads traveled based on the provided set of GPS coordinates. You can specify
up to 100 GPS points collected along a route. Optionally,
you can also request that the service interpolates additional points,
resulting in a path that smoothly follows the geometry of the road.
Nearest Roads This service returns the nearest
road segment for a GPS point. You can specify up to 100
GPS points. The points you specify don't need to be part of a continuous
path.
Speed limits This service returns the posted
speed limit for a road segment. The Speed Limit service is available to all
customers with an Asset Tracking license. For Google Maps Platform Premium Plan
customers who transitioned to pay-as-you-go pricing, the feature remains
active.
How the Roads API works
The Roads API uses three endpoints which accept latitude/longitude
coordinates or place IDs to provide road paths, segments, or speed limit data.
The following example shows a request for nearest roads based on a set
of latitude/longitude coordinates:
Returns an array of up to 100 GPS points from a route. Includes
road-snapped longitude/latitude coordinates along
with place IDs. See details in
Responses
in the Snap to roads
guide.
An array of up to 100 independent latitude/longitude coordinates
along with place IDs for the nearest road for each specified point.
Points do not need to be continuous. See details in
Responses
in the Nearest roads
guide.
An array of up to 100 road metadata elements. These contain speed
limits and place IDs, with units either in KPH or MPH. See details
in Responses
in the Speed limits
guide.
How to use the Roads API
1
Try the snap to roads demo
Click the demo to create a track and see how the snap to roads endpoint
provides smooth data. See
Demo
in the Snap to roads guide. You don't need an API key.
The Java Client, Python Client, Go Client and Node.js Client for Google Maps
Services are community-supported client libraries, open sourced under the
Apache 2.0 License.
Download them from GitHub, where you can also find installation instructions and sample code.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-18 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe Roads API enhances maps applications by connecting coordinates with roads, finding nearby roads, and providing speed limit data.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt offers three core functionalities: snapping GPS points to roads, identifying nearest roads, and retrieving speed limits.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDevelopers can leverage client libraries for Java, Python, Go, and Node.js to integrate the Roads API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe API accepts latitude/longitude coordinates and returns data like Place IDs, road segments, and speed limits in JSON format.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can get started by exploring the documentation, trying the demo, setting up a Google Cloud project, and experimenting with code examples.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The Roads API processes HTTPS requests with latitude/longitude coordinates to identify nearby road segments. It offers three main services: Snap to Roads, which maps up to 100 GPS points to road geometry; Nearest Roads, which identifies the closest road segment for up to 100 independent GPS points; and Speed Limits, which returns posted speed limits and place IDs for road segments. Users can integrate these functionalities using client libraries or by making direct requests with an API key.\n"],null,["The Roads API is a service that accepts HTTPS requests with latitude/longitude coordinates for one or more points on a map. It uses these points to find nearby road segments and returns a Place ID along with metadata such as the nearest road segment and speed limits.\n\nWhy use the Roads API\n\nWith the Roads API, you can get speed limits, estimated\narrival times, or other road metadata. With this road\nmetadata, you can enhance your driving apps with the follow capabilities:\n\n- Connect latitude/longitude coordinates with a road or roads.\n- Find the nearest road for a set of coordinates\n- Get speed limits for road segments\n\nWhat you can do with the Roads API\n\nWith the Roads API, you can map GPS coordinates to the\ngeometry of the road, and determine the speed limit along road\nsegments.\n\n- **[Snap to Roads](/maps/documentation/roads/snap)** This service returns the most likely roads traveled based on the provided set of GPS coordinates. You can specify up to 100 GPS points collected along a route. Optionally, you can also request that the service interpolates additional points, resulting in a path that smoothly follows the geometry of the road.\n- **[Nearest Roads](/maps/documentation/roads/nearest)** This service returns the nearest road segment for a GPS point. You can specify up to 100 GPS points. The points you specify don't need to be part of a continuous path.\n- **[Speed limits](/maps/documentation/roads/speed-limits)** This service returns the posted speed limit for a road segment. The Speed Limit service is available to all customers with an Asset Tracking license. For [Google Maps Platform Premium Plan](/maps/premium) customers who transitioned to pay-as-you-go pricing, the feature remains active.\n\nHow the Roads API works\n\nThe Roads API uses three endpoints which accept latitude/longitude\ncoordinates or place IDs to provide road paths, segments, or speed limit data.\nThe following example shows a request for nearest roads based on a set\nof latitude/longitude coordinates: \n\n```scdoc\nhttps://roads.googleapis.com/v1/nearestRoads\n ?points=60.170880%2C24.942795%7C60.170879%2C24.942796%7C60.170877%2C24.942796\n &key=YOUR_API_KEY\n```\n\nResources\n\nThe following table summarizes the resources available through the\nRoads API along with the data it returns.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| Data resources | Data returned | Return format |\n|------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|\n| **[Snap to roads](/maps/documentation/roads/snap)** | Returns an array of up to 100 GPS points from a route. Includes road-snapped longitude/latitude coordinates along with place IDs. See details in [Responses](/maps/documentation/roads/snap#responses) in the Snap to roads guide. | - JSON |\n| **[Nearest roads](/maps/documentation/roads/nearest)** | An array of up to 100 independent latitude/longitude coordinates along with place IDs for the nearest road for each specified point. Points do not need to be continuous. See details in [Responses](/maps/documentation/roads/nearest#responses) in the Nearest roads guide. | - JSON |\n| **[Speed limits](/maps/documentation/roads/speed-limits)** | An array of up to 100 road metadata elements. These contain speed limits and place IDs, with units either in KPH or MPH. See details in [Responses](/maps/documentation/roads/nearest#responses) in the Speed limits guide. | - JSON |\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nHow to use the Roads API\n\n|---|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| 1 | **Try the snap to roads demo** | Click the demo to create a track and see how the snap to roads endpoint provides smooth data. See [Demo](/maps/documentation/roads/snap#demo) in the **Snap to roads** guide. You don't need an API key. |\n| 2 | **Get set up** | Start with [Set up your Google Cloud project](/maps/documentation/roads/cloud-setup) and complete the setup instructions that follow and then learn [how to use your API key](/maps/documentation/roads/get-api-key). |\n| 3 | **Try a snap to roads request** | [Use one of the snap to roads examples](/maps/documentation/roads/snap#examples) and try one relevant to your use case. |\n| 4 | **Get speed limits for your road path** | Using the same path data you provided for your snap to roads request, issue a speed limit query. See the [Example request using a path](/maps/documentation/roads/speed-limits#example_request_using_a_path). |\n| 5 | **Learn how to process long paths** | Follow the sections on [Processing long paths](/maps/documentation/roads/advanced#processing_long_paths) in the **Advanced concepts** guide. |\n| 6 | **Incorporate road data into your own app!** | See the [detailed code example](/maps/documentation/roads/snap#javascript-+-html) from the road snapped demo to start building road data functionality into your own app. |\n\nAvailable client libraries\n\nCall this API in the language of\nyour choice through one of the following client libraries:\n\n- [Java\n Client for Google Maps Services](https://github.com/googlemaps/google-maps-services-java)\n- [Python\n Client for Google Maps Services](https://github.com/googlemaps/google-maps-services-python)\n- [Go Client\n for Google Maps Services](https://github.com/googlemaps/google-maps-services-go)\n- [Node.js\n Client for Google Maps Services](https://github.com/googlemaps/google-maps-services-js)\n\nThe Java Client, Python Client, Go Client and Node.js Client for Google Maps\nServices are community-supported client libraries, open sourced under the\n[Apache 2.0 License](http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).\nDownload them from GitHub, where you can also find installation instructions and sample code.\n\nWhat's next\n\n- **Try out the Roads API** : Go to [Roads Inspector](/maps/documentation/roads/inspector)\n- **Learn how to make Roads API requests** : Go to the service you're interested in:\n - [Snap to roads](/maps/documentation/roads/snap)\n - [Nearest roads](/maps/documentation/roads/nearest)\n - [Speed limits](/maps/documentation/roads/speed-limits)\n- **Understand Advanced Concepts** : Go to [Advanced Concepts](/maps/documentation/roads/advanced)\n- **Follow best practices** : Go to [Web Services Best Practices](/maps/documentation/roads/web-service-best-practices)"]]