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Time-Varying Travel Times in Vehicle Routing

Lehrstuhl für Produktion und Logistik, Universität Augsburg, D-86135 Augsburg, Germany
PROLOGOS Planung und Beratung, Tempowerkring 4, D-21079 Hamburg, Germany
Society and Technology Research Group, DaimlerChrysler AG, Alt-Moabit 96a, D-10559 Berlin, Germany
bernhard.fleischmann{at}wiwi.uni-augsburg.de
prologos{at}t-online.de
stefan.gnutzmann{at}daimlerchrysler.com

Models and algorithms for vehicle routing are usually based on known constant travel times between all relevant locations, an assumption that is far from reality, particularly for urban areas. But the consideration of travel times that vary with the time of day poses two serious problems: the adaptation of the algorithms and the procurement of reliable data about the behavior of the travel times in the road network. This article describes the derivation of travel time data from modern traffic information systems. It presents a general framework for the implementation of time-varying travel times in various vehicle-routing algorithms. Finally, it reports on computational tests with travel time data obtained from a traffic information system in the city of Berlin.

Key Words: vehicle routing; dynamic travel times; traffic information systems
History: Received: December 2000; revised: September 2001; revised: July 2002; accepted: January 2003.

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				B. Fleischmann, S. Gnutzmann, and E. Sandvoss Dynamic Vehicle Routing Based on Online Traffic Information Transportation Science, November 1, 2004; 38(4): 420 - 433. [Abstract] [PDF]