Geocoding and Routing are core services in mapping platforms. Today, the Bing Maps team is happy to announce improved algorithms and increased coverage support for these services, which also directly improve the coverage of many of the new Bing Maps Fleet Management APIs, such as the Isochrone and Distance Matrix APIs which rely on routing data.
Geocoder Improvements
The Bing Maps team has spent several years developing a new backend geocoder, which provides improved matching logic and the ability to make faster data updates. This new geocoder went into production earlier this year, and the Bing Maps developer APIs were seamlessly updated on the backend, thus instantly migrating all users to the new geocoder without any code changes required by them.
In addition to creating a new backend geocoder, the team has been working hard on increasing the support for geocoding globally. Bing Maps ranks the level of geocoding support for each country using the following criteria:
- Rooftop – Addresses are resolved to the latitude/longitude coordinate at the center of the address parcel (property boundary). Rooftop has the highest level of accuracy support. Its coverage varies by country.
- Address – Addresses are interpolated to a latitude/longitude coordinate on the street.
- Street Name – Addresses are resolved to the latitude/longitude coordinate of the street that contains the address. The address number is not processed.
- Basic – Geocoding support is limited and primarily only accurate to the city level. If an address is valid, Bing Maps attempts to resolve it, but a result is not guaranteed.
The number of countries in which Bing Maps has Rooftop or Address level detailed coverage has grown from 82 to 109 countries.
| Highest Level Support | # of Countries | |
| Old Coverage | New Coverage | |
| Rooftop | 17 | 46 |
| Address | 65 | 63 |
| Street Name | 12 | 46 |
| Basic | 159 | 98 |
Detailed geocoding coverage information can be found here.
Routing Service Improvements
Bing Maps provides routing for the following modes of transportation: cars, trucks, walking and public transit. Bing Maps provides both real-time and predictive traffic based routing. The team is constantly tweaking and improving the algorithms and data to provide more efficient and accurate routes. Bing Maps ranks the level of standard routing support for each country using the following criteria:
- Good - The country/region has detailed road data available in most populated centers and most of these have been verified for accuracy. Coverage is updated frequently. Remote areas may lack some road information.
- Fair - At a minimum, the country/region has major road data available as well as some detailed road data. Most often, these roads have not been verified for accuracy. Coverage is updated over time. Please visit the map to assess if the current version meets the needs of your application.
- Major Roads Only - At a minimum, the country/region coverage includes major roads. These roads have not been verified for accuracy. Coverage is updated over time. Please visit the map to assess if the current version meets the needs of your application.
The number of countries in which Bing Maps has good routing coverage has grown from 58 to 116 countries.
| # of Countries | ||
| Old Coverage | New Coverage | |
| Good | 58 | 116 |
| Fair | 82 | 54 |
| Major Roads Only | 113 | 83 |
Detailed routing coverage information can be found here.
Truck Routing
Truck routing support was just recently added to Bing Maps and is supported in 80 countries.
Detailed truck routing coverage information can be found here.
If you have any questions or feedback about Bing Maps, please let us know on the Bing Maps forums or visit the Bing Maps website to learn more about the Bing Maps platform.
- Bing Maps Team