Time-dependent SHARC-routing

Abstract

During the last years, many speed-up techniques for Dijkstra's algorithm have been developed. As a result, computing a shortest path in a static road network is a matter of microseconds. However, only few of those techniques work in time-dependent networks. Unfortunately, such networks appear frequentely in reality: Roads are predictably congestured by traffic jams, and efficient timetable information systems rely on time-dependent networks. Hence, a fast technique for routing in such networks is needed. In this work, we present an exact time-dependent speed-up technique based on our recent SHARC-algorithm. As a result, we are able to efficiently compute shortest paths in time-dependent continental-sized transportation networks, both of roads and of railways. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.