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Radar’s Routing API calculates travel distances, durations, and route geometries between locations across multiple transportation modes.

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Overview

The Routing API supports:

Multiple Modes

Foot, bike, car, truck, and motorbike routing

Route Matrices

Calculate routes between multiple origins and destinations

Distance Units

Imperial (feet/miles) or metric (meters/kilometers)

Route Geometry

Get detailed route paths and turn-by-turn directions

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Calculate Distance

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Distance from Current Location

Calculate travel distance and duration from the device’s current location to a destination: 
let destination = CLLocation(latitude: 40.70390, longitude: -73.98670)

Radar.getDistance(
    destination: destination,
    modes: [.foot, .car],
    units: .imperial
) { status, routes in
    if status == .success, let routes = routes {
        // Car route
        if let car = routes.car {
            print("Car distance: \(car.distance.text)")
            print("Car duration: \(car.duration.text)")
            print("Raw distance: \(car.distance.value) feet")
            print("Raw duration: \(car.duration.value) minutes")
        }
        
        // Walking route
        if let foot = routes.foot {
            print("Walking distance: \(foot.distance.text)")
            print("Walking duration: \(foot.duration.text)")
        }
        
        // Geodesic (straight line) distance
        if let geodesic = routes.geodesic {
            print("Straight-line distance: \(geodesic.text)")
        }
    }
}

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Distance Between Two Locations

Calculate travel distance between any two coordinates: 
let origin = CLLocation(latitude: 40.78382, longitude: -73.97536)
let destination = CLLocation(latitude: 40.70390, longitude: -73.98670)

Radar.getDistance(
    origin: origin,
    destination: destination,
    modes: [.foot, .bike, .car],
    units: .metric
) { status, routes in
    if status == .success, let routes = routes {
        // Compare travel times across modes
        if let car = routes.car {
            print("By car: \(car.duration.text) (\(car.distance.text))")
        }
        if let bike = routes.bike {
            print("By bike: \(bike.duration.text) (\(bike.distance.text))")
        }
        if let foot = routes.foot {
            print("Walking: \(foot.duration.text) (\(foot.distance.text))")
        }
    }
}

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Travel Modes

Radar supports multiple transportation modes:
1

Foot

Walking routes optimized for pedestrians.
modes: [.foot]
2

Bike

Bicycle routes using bike lanes and paths where available.
modes: [.bike]
3

Car

Driving routes for passenger vehicles.
modes: [.car]
4

Truck

Routes optimized for trucks, considering weight and height restrictions.
modes: [.truck]
5

Motorbike

Motorcycle routes that may differ from car routes.
modes: [.motorbike]
You can request multiple modes in a single call to compare travel times:
modes: [.foot, .bike, .car]

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Distance Units

Choose between imperial and metric units: 
Radar.getDistance(
    destination: destination,
    modes: [.car],
    units: .imperial  // Feet and miles
) { status, routes in
    // distance.value is in feet
    // duration.value is in minutes
}

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Route Geometry

Access detailed route geometry for mapping: 
Radar.getDistance(
    origin: origin,
    destination: destination,
    modes: [.car],
    units: .imperial
) { status, routes in
    if let car = routes?.car {
        let geometry = car.geometry
        
        // Get coordinates for drawing on map
        let coordinates = geometry.coordinates
        print("Route has \(coordinates.count) points")
        
        // Draw route on map
        let polyline = MKPolyline(coordinates: coordinates, count: coordinates.count)
        mapView.addOverlay(polyline)
    }
}

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Route Matrix

Calculate routes between multiple origins and destinations in a single request (up to 25 routes).

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Basic Matrix Calculation

let origins = [
    CLLocation(latitude: 40.78382, longitude: -73.97536),
    CLLocation(latitude: 40.70390, longitude: -73.98670)
]

let destinations = [
    CLLocation(latitude: 40.64189, longitude: -73.78779),
    CLLocation(latitude: 35.99801, longitude: -78.94294)
]

Radar.getMatrix(
    origins: origins,
    destinations: destinations,
    mode: .car,
    units: .imperial
) { status, matrix in
    if status == .success, let matrix = matrix {
        // Get route from origin 0 to destination 0
        if let route = matrix.routeBetween(originIndex: 0, destinationIndex: 0) {
            print("Route [0,0]: \(route.duration.text)")
        }
        
        // Get route from origin 0 to destination 1
        if let route = matrix.routeBetween(originIndex: 0, destinationIndex: 1) {
            print("Route [0,1]: \(route.duration.text)")
        }
        
        // Get route from origin 1 to destination 0
        if let route = matrix.routeBetween(originIndex: 1, destinationIndex: 0) {
            print("Route [1,0]: \(route.duration.text)")
        }
        
        // Get route from origin 1 to destination 1
        if let route = matrix.routeBetween(originIndex: 1, destinationIndex: 1) {
            print("Route [1,1]: \(route.duration.text)")
        }
    }
}

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Matrix Use Cases

Find the optimal driver assignment for multiple deliveries:
let driverLocations = [ /* driver CLLocations */ ]
let deliveryLocations = [ /* delivery CLLocations */ ]

Radar.getMatrix(
    origins: driverLocations,
    destinations: deliveryLocations,
    mode: .car,
    units: .imperial
) { status, matrix in
    // Find shortest route for each delivery
    for destIndex in 0..<deliveryLocations.count {
        var shortestDuration = Double.infinity
        var bestDriver = 0
        
        for driverIndex in 0..<driverLocations.count {
            if let route = matrix?.routeBetween(originIndex: driverIndex, destinationIndex: destIndex) {
                if route.duration.value < shortestDuration {
                    shortestDuration = route.duration.value
                    bestDriver = driverIndex
                }
            }
        }
        
        print("Delivery \(destIndex) closest to driver \(bestDriver)")
    }
}
Show stores sorted by actual drive time, not straight-line distance:
let userLocation = [ /* user location */ ]
let storeLocations = [ /* store locations */ ]

Radar.getMatrix(
    origins: [userLocation],
    destinations: storeLocations,
    mode: .car,
    units: .imperial
) { status, matrix in
    var storesWithTimes: [(index: Int, duration: Double)] = []
    
    for storeIndex in 0..<storeLocations.count {
        if let route = matrix?.routeBetween(originIndex: 0, destinationIndex: storeIndex) {
            storesWithTimes.append((storeIndex, route.duration.value))
        }
    }
    
    // Sort by drive time
    storesWithTimes.sort { $0.duration < $1.duration }
    
    // Display sorted stores
    for (storeIndex, duration) in storesWithTimes {
        print("Store \(storeIndex): \(duration) minutes away")
    }
}
Route matrices support up to 25 total routes (e.g., 5 origins × 5 destinations).

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Response Objects

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RadarRoutes

The RadarRoutes object contains route information for each requested mode: 
public class RadarRoutes {
    public let geodesic: RadarRouteDistance?  // Straight-line distance
    public let foot: RadarRoute?              // Walking route
    public let bike: RadarRoute?              // Biking route
    public let car: RadarRoute?               // Driving route
    public let truck: RadarRoute?             // Truck route
    public let motorbike: RadarRoute?         // Motorcycle route
}

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RadarRoute

Each route contains distance, duration, and geometry: 
public class RadarRoute {
    public let distance: RadarRouteDistance   // Distance information
    public let duration: RadarRouteDuration   // Duration information
    public let geometry: RadarRouteGeometry   // Route coordinates
}

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RadarRouteDistance

Distance with both numeric value and formatted text: 
public class RadarRouteDistance {
    public let value: Double     // Distance in feet (imperial) or meters (metric)
    public let text: String      // Formatted string (e.g., "2.4 mi" or "3.8 km")
}

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RadarRouteDuration

Duration with both numeric value and formatted text: 
public class RadarRouteDuration {
    public let value: Double     // Duration in minutes
    public let text: String      // Formatted string (e.g., "23 min")
}

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Use Cases

Delivery ETA

Calculate accurate delivery time estimates based on real routes.

Store Locator

Show users the nearest stores by actual drive time.

Fleet Management

Optimize driver assignments and route planning.

Geofence Radius

Determine if a location is within a travel time threshold.

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Performance Tips

1

Request Only Needed Modes

Only request the transportation modes you’ll actually use:
// Good: Only what you need
modes: [.car]

// Wasteful: Requesting modes you won't use
modes: [.foot, .bike, .car, .truck, .motorbike]
2

Use Matrices Efficiently

Batch multiple route calculations into a single matrix request:
// Good: Single matrix request
Radar.getMatrix(origins: origins, destinations: destinations, ...)

// Bad: Multiple individual requests
for origin in origins {
    for destination in destinations {
        Radar.getDistance(origin: origin, destination: destination, ...)
    }
}
3

Cache Route Results

Cache route calculations to avoid redundant API calls:
let routeCache = NSCache<NSString, RadarRoute>()

let cacheKey = "\(origin.coordinate),\(destination.coordinate)" as NSString
if let cached = routeCache.object(forKey: cacheKey) {
    return cached
}

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Error Handling

Radar.getDistance(
    origin: origin,
    destination: destination,
    modes: [.car],
    units: .imperial
) { status, routes in
    switch status {
    case .success:
        print("Route calculated successfully")
        
    case .errorLocation:
        print("Invalid location coordinates")
        
    case .errorNetwork:
        print("Network error occurred")
        
    case .errorRateLimit:
        print("Rate limit exceeded")
        
    case .errorBadRequest:
        print("Invalid request parameters")
        
    default:
        print("Error: \(Radar.stringForStatus(status))")
    }
}

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Learn More

Routing API

Explore the complete Routing API reference

Trip Tracking

Track trips with live ETA updates

Search

Search for places and geofences

Context

Get comprehensive location context

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