Distance & GPS

Map matching

Algorithm aligning noisy GPS points to the nearest road on the map to reconstruct the route.

Map matching is the algorithm that takes a sequence of (often noisy) GPS points and snaps them to the nearest road on the map, reconstructing the actually-driven path. Needed because raw GPS jumps between parallel streets in dense urban environments. OSRM, Mapbox, and Google all offer map-matching APIs. Result: clean driving distance with no artificial zigzag.

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