Minimum Cost in Residential Refuse Vehicle Routes

Refuse collection vehicle routing problems may be divided into two categories, depending on whether collection takes place at widely scattered discrete points or at points that are close together and distributed along streets. The latter case, which commonly applies in residential collection, has been the subject of a great deal of mathematical research, some of it quite old. The results of this research can be used to construct computer programs for routing, and also provide a great deal of insight which aids the human router. Pertinent portions of the mathematical theory are described in the first sections of this paper. Practical procedures which may be used by a human router, possibly assisted by a computer, are then examined.