A GIS implementation of a time-dependent traveling salesman problem with stochastic events

The purpose of this thesis is to provide the custom tools and functions in ArcGIS 8 to solve the transportation problem domain of the Time-dependent Traveling Salesman Problem (TDTSP) that also considers stochastic events. My implementation of a TDTSP with stochastic events takes full advantage of the open-COM based architecture of ERSI's Arclnfo 8. Through the COM-complaint programming language of C++, as well as taking advantage of the VBA editor and ArcObjects, the integration of the custom tools to solve the TDTSP is seamless to the user. Travel speeds are affected not just by time-dependent events, such as rush hour congestion, but also by stochastic events, such as traffic accidents. My study also strives to continue the applicability of the TSP model to the real world by incorporating stochastic events such as traffic accidents. To try and maintain a cheap solution, there needs to be efforts to include these stochastic events. My GIS implementation of this problem is one scenario to handle dependent and stochastic travel events.