Finding fixed-length circuits and cycles in undirected edge-weighted graphs: an application with street networks

Abstract

This paper proposes two heuristic algorithms for finding fixed-length circuits and cycles in undirected edge-weighted graphs. It focusses particularly on a largely unresearched practical application where we are seeking attractive round trips for pedestrians and joggers in urban street networks. Our first method is based on identifying suitable pairs of paths that are combined to form a solution; our second is based on local search techniques. Both algorithms display high levels of accuracy, producing solutions within just a few meters of the target. Run times for the local search algorithm are also short, with solutions in large cities often being found in less than one second.