Specify route features to avoid

Note: Avoiding route features is not supported by the Compute Route Matrix feature of the Routes API.

You specify which route features you prefer to avoid, such as avoiding tolls or highways, by adding route modifiers to a request. The API then attempts to provide a route that does not require those features.

Use the routeModifiers property in a request, of type RouteModifiers. You can specify avoidTolls, avoidHighways, avoidFerries, and avoidIndoor.

Note: The routeModifiers property supports additional options, including vehicleInfo and tollPasses. For more on vehicleInfo, see Get an eco-friendly route. For more on tollPasses, see Calculate toll fees for a route.

Specifying a route modifier does not necessarily eliminate routes that include the restricted feature. The API uses the modifier to bias the result to more favorable routes. There can be a few reasons why requesting an avoidance option doesn't change your route. For example, the only route from the origin to the destination makes it impossible to avoid a highway or ferry. Or, the alternate route actually lengthens travel time significantly.

The following example demonstrates how to set route modifiers in a computeRoutes method (REST) request body. You can also specify this option to the ComputeRoutes method (gRPC). In this example, you specify to avoid tolls and highways:

{
  "origin":{
    "location":{
      "latLng":{
        "latitude":37.419734,
        "longitude":-122.0827784
      }
    }
  },
  "destination":{
    "location":{
      "latLng":{
        "latitude":37.417670,
        "longitude":-122.079595
      }
    }
  },
  "routeModifiers": {
    "avoidTolls": true,
    "avoidHighways": true,
  }
}