Vehicle Routing Problem (trash collection and vector control routes)

[carysadler]

Hello All,

I am currently working on a project to determine the most efficient routes for trash collection and mosquito spraying within my jurisdiction. I work in the fire service and have used my Network Analyst extension to create service areas based on response time criteria and also closest facilities in regards to fire station locations.  We have one public works facility that all trash collection and mosquito spraying operations are dispatched from.  So, how can I develop the most efficient routes that would break the city street network into equal areas that could be serviced Monday through Friday?  I'm guessing that zones could be created and then each zone could be analyzed for the most efficent routing for each zone.  I would also hope that the map could display the driving path that the operators should take to improve operation time and save fuel.  Can this be done?  If so, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cary Sadler, Fire Marshal
Madison Fire and Rescue
Madison, AL

[NaAn]

Hi Cary,

You can use VRP solver for trash collection and mosquito spraying route optimization. Here is the tutorial that introduces the detailed steps to set up the solver:

http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#/Exercise_7_Servicing_a_set_of_orders_w...

Since VRP solver is not designed to solve the problem with high density orders like trash collection, you might not see the balanced routes (equal areas) in the solution. RouteSmart can provide you a better solution in this case (http://www.routesmart.com/meterreading.aspx).

If you do want to use VRP solver for trash collections, here are few suggestions:

• Create seed points (one for each route) to partition the area


• Or manually create soft route zones to partition the area. VRP solver will find efficient routes for each zone.

Please let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks.

Anna

[carysadler]

Thanks Anna! 

I'll give your suggestions a try over the weekend and let you know how I've done.  I have already created some zones that are within a few miles total of each other.  Maybe I can try those and see how it works.

Cary

[FrankVignati]

I'm beginning this process myself for debris removal from a central location for five zones
What have you found to work best Cary?

[NaAn]

You may try a few more things:

If you have 10.2.2 installed, you can set some registry key in registry editor to generate better clustering result when dynamic seed points are in use:

• Type regedit in command line to open registry editor
• In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ESRI\Desktop10.2\NetworkAnalyst\VRPSolver, right-click to create a new string value key with name "RSPPenaltyFactor". You may set a large value, such as "200" to force solver generating nice-looking clusters

You can also try Location-Allocation solver to partition the regions, and then use VRP solver to generate routes in each region:

Here is document for Location-Allocation solver: ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2) . To model your problem:

• Load all locations to visit as Facilities, and load the same points into Demand Points as well.
• In layer properties Advanced Settings tab, set the problem type to Maximize  Capacitated Coverage, also set Facilities to Choose with the number of regions you'd like to create, set Default Capacity to be the average number of locations to visit within each region.

Hope it can solve your problem!

Anna

[Anonymous User]

any update on this? I was hoping to be able to use a set of predetermined garbage route zones (street line feature class) to create routes and indicate how many times the vehicle needs to drive down the road based on the direction field (one-way, 2 way street)