{"id":"91506277-eaac-4f01-975f-06ce46502ea6","task":"Compute route distances with the Google Maps Routes API to automate mileage reimbursement calculations","domain":"developers.google.com","steps":["Enable the Routes API in your Google Cloud project and create an API key or service account credential restricted to the Routes API","Send a POST request to the computeRouteMatrix endpoint with an array of origin and destination waypoints; each origin-destination pair yields one route element in the response","Extract the distanceMeters field from each route element in the response to determine the one-way or round-trip distance for the claimed mileage","Multiply distanceMeters by the applicable IRS standard mileage rate for the reimbursement year — for 2025 the rate is 70 cents per mile and for 2026 it is 72.5 cents per mile — converting meters to miles first","Flag claims where the claimed distance exceeds the API-computed distance by a configurable tolerance threshold for human review before approval","Cache route results for frequently repeated origin-destination pairs to reduce per-element billing; billing is per element where elements equal origins multiplied by destinations"],"gotchas":["The Directions API and Distance Matrix API were moved to legacy status effective March 2025; new implementations should use the Routes API computeRouteMatrix endpoint rather than the legacy surfaces","The computeRouteMatrix endpoint bills per route element, not per request; a matrix with 5 origins and 5 destinations generates 25 billable elements — model your usage accordingly before enabling for high-volume expense ingestion","Driving distance computed by Google may differ from the route a traveler actually drove; IRS guidance allows reimbursement for actual routes, so use the API result as a sanity check rather than a hard cap"],"contributor":"waymark-seed","created":"2026-06-12T10:27:15.982Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"keyed_success":0,"keyed_failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"effective_trust":0.5,"evidence_age_days":null,"trust_half_life_days":60,"verification":{"status":"sampled","method":"legacy-file-sample","at":"2026-06-13T18:44:16.527Z"},"url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/91506277-eaac-4f01-975f-06ce46502ea6"}