diff --git a/GoNOW/app/scripts/Polling.ts b/GoNOW/app/scripts/Polling.ts
index b0a5114..bb577c3 100644
--- a/GoNOW/app/scripts/Polling.ts
+++ b/GoNOW/app/scripts/Polling.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
-import { RouteRequestBody } from '../../../backend/index';
+import { travelTimeRequestBody } from '../../../backend/index';
 import { getNextEvent } from './Event';
 import { getMyLocation } from './Geo';
 
 interface routeResponse {
-    travelTime: number;
+  travelTime: number;
 }
 
 export const POLLING_INTERVAL_MIN = 15; // 15 minutes, minimum recommended interval for background fetch is 15 minutes
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ export const poll = async (): Promise<void> => {
         return;
     }
     else{
-        const requestBody: RouteRequestBody = {
-            event: next_event,
-            coordinates: current_location.coordinates,
+        const requestBody: travelTimeRequestBody = {
+          event: next_event,
+          coordinates: current_location.coordinates,
         }
 
         try {
diff --git a/backend/index.ts b/backend/index.ts
index 13bd6de..d44c391 100644
--- a/backend/index.ts
+++ b/backend/index.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,17 @@ app.use(bodyParser.json())
 
 const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY??'';   
 
-export interface RouteRequestBody {
+export interface travelTimeRequestBody {
     event:Event,
     coordinates:Coordinates;
 }
 
+interface RouteRequestBody {
+    origin: Coordinates,
+    destination: Coordinates,
+    travelMode: string
+}
+
 interface AutoscheduleRequestBody {
     events:Event[],
     workflow: Workflow,
@@ -64,6 +70,51 @@ app.get('/api/poll', async (req: Request<unknown, unknown, {event:Event, coordin
     res.status(200).json({travelTime: result});
 });
 
+app.post('/api/route', async (req: Request<unknown, unknown, RouteRequestBody>, res: Response) => {
+    //TODO
+    //parse incoming task for location
+    console.log(req.body)
+    const { origin, destination, travelMode } = req.body;
+    
+    //construct request
+    const url = 'https://routes.googleapis.com/directions/v2:computeRoutes';
+
+    const headers = new Headers({
+        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+        'X-Goog-Api-Key': apiKey,
+        'X-Goog-FieldMask': '*'
+    });
+
+    const body = JSON.stringify({
+        origin: {
+            location: { latLng: { latitude: origin.latitude, longitude: origin.longitude } }
+        },
+        destination: {
+            location: { latLng: { latitude: destination.latitude, longitude: destination.longitude } }
+        },
+        travelMode: travelMode
+    });
+
+    try {
+        const response = await fetch(url, {
+            method: 'POST',
+            headers: headers,
+            body: body
+        });
+
+        if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP Error: ${String(response.status)}`);
+        //const responseText = await response.text();
+        //console.log('Raw response:', responseText);
+        const responseData = await response.json();
+        console.log('response data', responseData);
+        res.status(200).send(responseData); 
+
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.error('Error fetching route:', error);
+        res.status(500).send('');
+    }
+});
+
 
 app.listen(PORT,() => {
     console.log(`Backend listening on port ${String(PORT)}`);