Route Optimization

The Route Optimization capability in the Google Maps Mobility scheduled tasks service is a toolkit that incorporates Routes API, Routes Preferred API, Directions API, and Distance Matrix API. It offers enterprise-level features that solve the problem of finding the optimal order for drivers to complete their tasks.

What can you do with route optimization?

You can optimize routing across your fleet or fine-tune the task order for particular drivers. You can build an interface to allow your drivers and fleet manager to visually edit routes.

The Route optimization API provides direct support for complex, fleet-wide optimization tasks and can be combined with Last Mile Fleet Solution. For more information, see Route optimization API,

Why use route optimization?

When you manage a delivery fleet, it's crucial to optimize driver routes to meet consumer expectations. Route optimization helps your drivers drive the most efficient route possible—making stops and completing tasks in the optimal order. Your customers orders arrive as quickly and as inexpensively as possible. Route optimization simplifies the effort needed to meet these goals.

• Improve driver task productivity — Ensure that your drivers get optimal routes, including real-time traffic updates, avoiding delays due to congestion.
• Improve consumer experience — Provide your consumers with more precise expected delivery times.

How to use route optimization

This section describes a typical process for using Route Optimization.

1. Assign tasks across your entire fleet

Most fleets managers begin each day by assigning all required tasks for the day across their driver fleet. You can use different approaches for assignment, including driver territories or a route optimization solver. Mobility services does not directly address the task assignment problem. Mobility services can track assigned tasks, and routes created in any routing solution you use.

If you've developed your own route solver, you can use the Routes Preferred API or the Routes API ComputeRouteMatrix method to estimate the distance and duration of a route for multiple origins and destinations. The Routes Preferred API and Routes API ComputeRouteMatrix method lets you use the same traffic and routing algorithms used by other Google Maps Platform products. It has several advantages over the Distance Matrix API. For more details, see Routes Preferred ComputeRouteMatrix or Routes API: Compute Route Matrix .

For fleet-wide optimization, use the Route Optimization API. It scales to very high delivery volumes and allows customization for a variety of constraints, such as time windows, package weights, and vehicle capacities. It makes use of Google Maps routing data, so when you use it in tandem with Mobility services, it promotes predictability in your operations, from planning to execution.

2. Fine-tune the task order for particular drivers

Once you've assigned tasks to drivers, you might optimize the sequence in which they perform them for a number of reasons, such as in territory assignments where you want to optimize the task order for each territory. Or, you might update routes to add pickups or adapt to traffic congestion. For this fine tuning, use the Directions API, which lets you optimize up to 25 stops. For more information, see the Directions API.

If you want to optimize more than 25 stops per route, see the Routes Preferred ComputeRoutes method. For more information, see the Routes Preferred ComputeRoutes and contact your Google sales representative to discuss availability.

3. Allow drivers or the fleet manager to directly edit a route

Some fleet operators want their drivers or their fleet manager to see and edit routes directly within a user interface. Use the Maps SDK to display the route from the Directions API. For more information on customizing routes in your map, see Maps SDK for Javascript, Maps SDK for Android, and Maps SDK for iOS.

For more information for routes based on driver input, see the Fleet Engine documentation.