topic Re: Whole City Drive Question in ArcGIS Network Analyst Questions

Whole City Drive Question

amarcz_cc — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 14:56:39 GMT

Hello all, I am currently on Enterprise 11.5 and using a local dataset for my routing so the number of stops are not a problem.

I am attempting to create a Route using our data that will traverse every road segment within out City and am having troubles with the route navigation.

The workflow I have established is to create a Stops layer that was developed from using the Feature to Point on the Road dataset used in the Network dataset, however when using the Preserve 1st and Last stop (so they start at City Hall and return back to it) the route that is created is very erratic. Within the ND I have also included Turn penalties, and set to calculate U-Turns at dead-ends & Intersections (originally made for 1st responders). I might need to create a new Travel Mode? Is there something else I need to consider when creating this?

The video below shows the erratic behavior of the path it wants to take. (This is a test using 'Find Best') option. The small red dot is the travel path.

(view in My Videos)

Re: Whole City Drive Question

JaySandhu — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 16:37:51 GMT

The find best route option, also known as the Travelling Salesperson Problem, is meant for discreate points you want to visit. When you give it a high density of locations, i.e., on every street mid-point, it may not give you the most optimal looking solution. One change you could do is to make sure the stops are loaded, the Curb Approach property is set to Right side of the Vehicle. This will provide a better sequence of visiting the edges.

However, I would suggest that you do not use the Route solver for this, rather use the Waste Collection solver. This is geared towards visiting edges in an area. More details here:

Waste collection analysis layer—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

and you can try out a tutorial to understand it:

Optimize municipal waste collection routes—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

BTW, what is your use case for optimizing the visit to every edge in the city?

Jay Sandhu

Re: Whole City Drive Question

amarcz_cc — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:44:55 GMT

@JaySandhu Thank you for the tip, I will look into this!

The use case is our Code Dept (local Govt) has attached AI cameras to their Vehicles, and want to do a sweep of the City to train for future use. They will be doing this sweep on a sustained basis.

Re: Whole City Drive Question

JaySandhu — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:02:47 GMT

Thanks for the additional detail. The waste collection solver will be a good way to tackle this problem and let us know how the results look for your use case.

Jay Sandhu

Re: Whole City Drive Question

amarcz_cc — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 22:29:22 GMT

@JaySandhu Although this will create a route for the needs, you are unable to Share as Route Layer to Enterprise / AGOL. Something I wish I read before I spent the time creating, publishing and fine tuning the Network Dataset.

I will keep this as a Solution, because I forgot to mention it in the Original Post. But beware, it is only available in ArcPro.