Route API question

Question

Hi Team,  We have been utilizing the Route API (https://dev.virtualearth.net/REST/V1/Routes/driving) to obtain travel information, such as directions, travel duration, and distance covered. However, we have encountered 404 errors for certain addresses, as shown in the screenshot below.  Screenshot:  We are facing issues with the following addresses:  - Address 1: 5427 Castlecreek Lane Houston TX 77053 US

• Address 2: 5236 Cedar St Bellaire TX 77401 US  Please find the Route API URL that we have used below:  https://dev.virtualearth.net/REST/V1/Routes/Driving?wp.0=5427 Castlecreek Ln Houston Texas 77053 United States &wp.1=5236 Cedar St Bellaire Texas 77401 United States &distanceUnit=Mile&optmz=distance&key=(Your Bing Map Key)  Could you please guide us in resolving the issue. Waiting for your reply. Thanks!

Answer 1

Very odd. The response has an errorDetails value that says it doesn't like the first address, but it appears to be valid and searchable via the geocoder, so it should work. I recommend reaching out to the Bing maps support team to have this investigated: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/maps/bing-maps/support (click the learn more button under enterprise support).

A couple of general recommendations to reduce other possible issues in the future (didn't seem to make much difference in this case though):

1. Try and properly format address strings with comma's. When there is only spaces between words it wouldn't take much for something to be categorized as the wrong type of address part (house number taken as zip code...).
2. When using REST services, be sure to encode addresses. Some characters can cause issues in URL formats. This is noted in the best practices document here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/bingmaps/getting-started/bing-maps-api-best-practices#geocoding