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Hello I've just joined OpenStreetMap as i have 40 locations across Merseyside that i need to visit each week Mon to Fri and i am trying to group them in the most economical groups to save fuel costs Can OpenStreetMap do this for me and if so how? Thanks for any help JQ |
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OpenStreetMap itself cannot help you to solve this problem, because OSM is only the dataset that contains all the geo data. But have a look at the OSM wiki about Routing ... read all links there, maybe there is some solution for you? |
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It depends on your definition of most economical route. If you want the shortest/fastest route between several points, then you have the traveling salesman problem (TSP). According to this question, there is a wiki page about a TSP program and also a MapQuest service offering an Optimized Route request which might be the thing you are looking for. Though I don't know if it allows to include 40 locations which would require a lot of computational effort. The most economical route, however, also depends on things like elevation, city density, intersections, daytime and other factors which most of today's routing services won't take into account. |
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It's not just down to shortest route. More fuel is used when the vehicle changes speed or direction so a short stop start route will work out less economical than a longer route with less stops and with fewer turns. The latter will also reduce ware and tear. If you happen to have a trip computer installed you could test what suits your vehicle as you have regular trips to do. Some Garmins sat nav have an eco route feature. here some info http://www.garmin.com/uk/ecoroute but in the end traffic flow will be so hard to predict. |
