Explore the most important features of PTV Developer and find the API that fits your needs: Route Optimization, Geocoding, Routing, Map Matching, and more. Follow the link that is hidden behind the information icon 🛈 of the corresponding API to find out more feature details.
Geocoding & Places
Find locations by converting street addresses into GPS-coordinates and vice versa
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location by text | Find locations matching addresses given as a single string | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Suggestions by text | Get suggestions when filling out the input fields for a Locations by Text [PREVIEW] | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Locations by address | Find locations matching addresses given as separate input fields | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Suggestions by address | Get suggestions when filling out the input fields for Locations By Address | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Locations by position | Find locations near a given position | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Detailed postal codes | In some regions, detailed postal codes are assigned to locations | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Places by position | Find places (i.e. addresses of businesses and services) near a given position | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Places by area | Find places (i.e. addresses of businesses and services) in a given area | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Places by text | Find places (i.e. addresses of businesses and services) matching a name given by a single text field | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Places by address | Find places (i.e. addresses, businesses and services) matching an address given as separate input fields | - | ✔ 🛈 |
Raster Maps
Display geographical data and traffic information on highly accurate, interactive, and customizable maps
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raster map tiles | With the Raster Maps service, you can display geographical data, satellite images, traffic incidents, traffic patterns, and restrictions on a digital map | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Raster map styles | Various number of different map styles. To match different use cases the Styles differ in color scheme, label and detail density | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Raster map layers | It is possible to request several data layers (background, transport, labels, toll, etc.) separately or to combine them | ✔ 🛈 | - |
Vector Maps
Display geographical data on highly accurate, interactive, and customizable vector maps
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
| Vector map tiles | With the Vector Maps service, you can render geographical vector tiles with your own renderer | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Vector map tiles custom styling | With Vector Maps service you can highly configurable map styles. You have the choice of using one of our predefined style or to build your own. | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Support several languages | Vector formats supports localized and native names for location labels (like countries or cities) and street elements, if available | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
Map Matching
Monitor your vehicles and track their movements
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position matching | Position matching helps to find the best matching road segment in the map for a given position | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Position matching - segment information | Provides the address and additional segment information of the matched position | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Track matching | Track matching helps to find the best matching road segment in the map for a given position in respect to already matched positions | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Track matching - segment information | Provides the address and additional segment information of the matched track | ✔ 🛈 | - |
Routing
Plan optimal and cost-effective routes for any vehicle and provide users with reliable arrival times
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select predefined routing profiles | Select a routing profile for each vehicle out of a set of well-defined and region-tailored1 profiles. Note that different predefined Profiles for the different APIs of PTV and OSM are supported. Please follow the links on the right | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Different waypoints | Examine different waypoint types (off-road, on-road, route-manipulation1, combined transport1) and attributes (side of street1, service time1, opening intervals1) | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Travel time / route distance | Request Travel Time and Route Distance for your selected vehicle | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Route polygon | Request the detailed route polygon to draw the route trajectory on the map | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Route legs | Request single legs of a route having several waypoints | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Vehicle parameters at waypoints | Change vehicle parameters like the load weight at intermediate waypoints of a route | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Adaptation of a selected vehicle profile | Select a provided vehicle (EU, USA, IMEA and Australia) and customize various attributes | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Different traffic situations | Explore different traffic situations (realistic and average) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Allowed and prohibited countries | Consider allowed and prohibited countries during route calculations | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Avoid features | Avoid toll, ferries, rail shuttles or highways on a route | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Block roads | Block roads, ferries or rail shuttles from being used on a route by marking them with intersection lines | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Custom road attributes | Use and share custom road attribute scenarios according to your individual needs | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Turn restrictions | Set preferred turns on the passenger side as it can reduce wait times and enhance safety | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Detailed toll data | Provides detailed toll data (costs, sections and systems including different payment methods like electronic toll collection) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Monetary costs | Get a monetary costs report and/or calculate a route with minimal monetary costs | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Electricity consumption | Get a consumption and charging report for an electric vehicle [PREVIEW] | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Emissions | Provides emission data (CEN, ISO 14083 and French CO2E decree) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Low-emission zones | Consider low-emission zones in different European countries during route calculations | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Driving time regulations | Consider driver working hours for EU and USA including a work logbook with already conducted work of the driver | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Events | Sets events in chronological order (waypoints, maneuvers, borders, time zones, toll, traffic incidents, low-emission zones, delivery-only roads, combined transports, violations, breaks and rests, ...) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Alternative routes | Provides three alternate routes in addition to the optimal route | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Recalculation of the same route | Recalculates a previously calculated route (For example, with a new start time) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| ETA | Provides the estimated time of arrival (ETA) based on a previously calculated route and the current position of the vehicle | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Guided navigation | Provides the route in an additional format to be imported in PTV Navigator and used for guided navigation there | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Reachable areas | Calculates areas reachable from a waypoint (on-road or off-road) within given horizons (distance or travel time) | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Reachable locations | Calculates reachable locations from a waypoint (on-road or off-road) or a previously calculated route within a given scope (distance or travel time) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
(1) Available only for PTV API, but not for OSM API
Matrix Routing
Calculate distances and travel times between multiple locations quickly and accurately
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select predefined routing profiles | Select a routing profile for each vehicle out of a set of well-defined and region-tailored1 profiles. Note that different predefined Profiles for the different APIs of PTV and OSM are supported. Please follow the links on the right | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Different locations | Compute different location types (on-road, off-road) and attributes (side of street1) | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Different traffic situations | Consider different traffic situations (average and realistic) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Time dependent travel-times | Retrieve time-dependent travel-times (for a single point in time, or as a profile for a given duration) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Detailed toll data | Toll costs can be reported for each relation of the distance matrix | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Encoded results | Encode distances, travel-times and toll costs, to reduce the size of the response for large matrices | ✔ 🛈 | - |
(1) Available only for PTV API, but not for OSM API
EWS Road Distance
Request truck road distances based on the EWS ("Entfernungswerk Strasse")
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relations | Provides EWS road distances and additional information like toll for a relation between two input locations in Europe | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Suggestions | Provides suggestions for an incomplete input location | ✔ 🛈 | - |
Route Optimization
Schedule optimized routes for a whole fleet, taking into account capacity, time restrictions, traffic conditions, and regulations
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select predefined routing profiles | Select a routing profile for each vehicle out of a set of well-defined and region-tailored profiles. Note that different predefined Profiles for the different APIs of PTV and OSM are supported. | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Plan trips and routes | Plan trips and routes based on given orders and assign them to the appropriate vehicles | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Adjust trips structure | Define the kind of routes, which can be created (that is, the number of trips or the number of depots, to be visited during a route) | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Plan with multiple depots | Take multiple depots into account for planning for example, as locations, where goods can be loaded or locations, where vehicles are situated | ✔ | ✔ |
| Plan using a diversified fleet | Create plans using vehicles with varying attributes, such as capacity, equipment, fleet location, or other properties | ✔ | ✔ |
| Honor time windows | Take time windows at customer or depot locations into account | ✔ | ✔ |
| Meet order requirements | Plan trips, where vehicle equipment fits the requirements of assigned orders | ✔ | ✔ |
| Choose the start and end locations of a vehicle | Predefine the area a vehicle services by choosing a start and/or end location of a vehicle's route | ✔ | ✔ |
| Track driver availabilities | Take driver availability into account | ✔ | ✔ |
| Consider European driving time regulations | Consider the European driving time regulations Nr. 561/2006 to ensure drivers have sufficient breaks and rests during their service periods | ✔ | ✔ |
| Calculate driving times | Calculate drive time between two locations based on reliable worldwide street networks | ✔ | ✔ |
| Calculate service times | Calculate service times based on several possible location- or order-based attributes | ✔ | ✔ |
| Consider vehicle capacities | Take vehicle capacity into account while planning to avoid overloading | ✔ | ✔ |
| Minimize the number of vehicles used | Create plans which avoid using more vehicles than available | ✔ | ✔ |
| Define location position in trip | Predefine the position of a location in a trip, either absolutely or related to other locations | ✔ | ✔ |
| Adjust optimization quality | Select how long an optimization run should take with respect to how precise the result must be | ✔ | ✔ |
| Plan visually attractive trips | Define the focus of optimization by minimizing the number of vehicles used or focus on trips with fewer connections, which look more attractive visually | ✔ | ✔ |
Route Optimization OptiFlow
Schedule optimized routes for a whole fleet, taking into account capacity, time restrictions, traffic conditions, and regulations
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select predefined routing profiles | Select a routing profile for each vehicle out of a set of well-defined and region-tailored profiles. Note that different predefined Profiles for the different APIs of PTV are supported | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Plan with multiple depots | Take multiple depots into account for planning for example, as locations, where goods can be loaded or locations, where vehicles are situated | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Plan using a diversified fleet | Create plans using vehicles with varying attributes, such as capacity, equipment, fleet location, or other properties | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Honor time slots | Take time slots at customer or depot locations into account | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Plan with constraints | Respect vehicle, order and depot categories. | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Choose the start and end location of a vehicle | Predefine the area a vehicle services by choosing a start and end location of a vehicle's route | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Specify costs per vehicle | Cost per hour, cost per kilometer, and fixed cost | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Plan with order outsourcing costs | Define the cost for not scheduling the order on a route. | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Consider driving and working time regulations | Ensure drivers have sufficient breaks and rests during their service periods (e.g. consider the European driving time regulations Nr. 561/2006) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Calculate driving times | Calculate drive time between two locations based on reliable worldwide street networks | ✔ | - |
| Calculate service times | Calculate service times based on several possible location- or order-based attributes | ✔ | - |
| Minimize the number of vehicles used | Create plans which avoid using more vehicles than available | ✔ | - |
| Define order sequence | Predefine the position of an order in a route relative to other orders | ✔ | - |
| Adjust optimization runtime | Select how long an optimization run may take in order to improve the result | ✔ | - |
Sequence Optimization
The solution for the traveling salesperson problem: Sequence an optimized route for a vehicle, taking into account capacity, time restrictions, traffic conditions, and regulations
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select predefined routing profiles | Select a routing profile for each vehicle out of a set of well-defined and region-tailored profiles. Note that different predefined Profiles for the different APIs of PTV and OSM are supported. | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Plan a route for a given vehicle | Plan an optimized sequence based on given orders | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |
| Honor time windows | Take time windows at customer or depot locations into account | ✔ | ✔ |
| Choose the start and end locations of vehicles | Predefine the area a vehicle services by choosing a start and/or end location of a vehicle's route | ✔ | ✔ |
| Truck driver availabilities | Take driver availability into account | ✔ | ✔ |
| Consider European driving time regulations | Consider the European driving time regulations Nr. 561/2006 to ensure drivers have sufficient breaks and rests during their service periods | ✔ | ✔ |
| Calculate driving times | Calculate drive time between two locations based on reliable worldwide street networks | ✔ | ✔ |
| Calculate service times | Calculate service times based on several possible location- or order-based attributes | ✔ | ✔ |
| Consider vehicle capacities | Take vehicle capacity into account while planning to avoid overloading | ✔ | ✔ |
| Define location position in trip | Predefine the position of a location in a trip, either absolutely or related to other locations | ✔ | ✔ |
Loading Space Optimization
Calculate the best way of arranging goods in a loading space
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bin packing | Optimizes the loading space of multiple items in one or several bins | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Item orientation and stackability | Explore item rotation and stacking constraints | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Unloading sequence | Sort goods based on trip location, making the first items to be delivered the most accessible (last in, first out) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
Data
Get additional data to optimize your application
| Feature | Description | PTV | OSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map information | Get information about the used map data which countries and regions are covered and which features are available (e.g. toll) | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Combined transports | Get a list of combined transports (ferries and rail shuttles) around a coordinate or searching for them with a text input for using them in a combined transport waypoint of the Routing API | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Predefined vehicle profiles | Get the predefined vehicle profiles relevant for routing in several APIs. Note that different predefined Profiles for the different APIs of PTV are supported. | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Custom road attributes | Create, read, update and delete custom road attribute scenarios according to your individual needs | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| Vehicle models | Get a list of model-based electric vehicles for calculating the electricity consumption in the Routing API [PREVIEW] | ✔ 🛈 | - |
| API Changes | Get a list of all API changes for PTV Developer | ✔ 🛈 | ✔ 🛈 |