How to use Google's Distance matrix on server side?

Question

I am developing a web application wherein i need to find the closest bus-stop from a users location and mark it on a map. I have the list of bus-stops on my server. I am using Google's Distance Matrix service which returns me the distance between my source and multiple bus stops. Then, by comparing the distance i get the nearest bus-stop. But this is all happening on client side. I wanted my server to do the decision.

Is it possible for my server to directly communicate with the Google maps server and get the distance?

Thanks

Answer 1

Are you using Google Maps API to display the results (Distance Matrix results need to be displayed on the Google Map).

Though you can call the JSON query from your server: Example: http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/distancematrix/json?origins=Vancouver+BC|Seattle&destinations=San+Francisco|Victoria+BC&mode=bicycling&language=fr-FR&sensor=false