Arc routing problems or edge-oriented routing problems are a class of route planning problems in which the service is provided along an edge and not in a node. Edges in graphs usually correspond to road sections in reality.
Typical examples of arc routing problems are refuse collection or street cleaning.
Whether a problem is modelled in a node-oriented or edge-oriented way often also depends on the point of view of the modeller. In waste disposal, for example, node-oriented modelling can also be selected if the locations of the individual waste bins are known.
For example, since the number of bins along a section of road is usually much greater than one, the node-oriented problem will usually be much greater than the edge-oriented problem.
