Google Maps (Calculate Shortest Route) (1 Viewer)

[2wistd]

I'm trying to create an automated way of making a way to contact our personnel in case phones cannot be used. I have a list of all the address and currently seperated by cities. I want to step it up a bit and with the use of google maps create a shortest route map. So one representative from one city will go to each house, another will go to the other cities to another rep, who then goes to each house in their city.

I would need a map for one person to each of the other reps.
And a map for the reps to drive the shortest route yet hitting all targets.

Is this within the scope of Access and Google Maps? I've looked at some of the database made by others on here but none of them show ability to find shortest route.

Thanks!

 

[2wistd]

Perhaps start out with just plotting the points for each city on one map. And then go on from there.

 

[Mihail]

It is an whole math about OPTIMIZATION. Like ALGEBRA or GEOMETRY.
I don't know how is called in English. Should be something like GRAPH THEORY.

What you need here is called TRANSPORT OPTIMIZATION and if you use this key to search the web I.m pretty sure that you will find out interesting idea.

From what I remember from one of my very old programs that calculate the minimum distance between 2 intersection in my city, I created a grid in Excel.
The column names and the row names are the same: Intersection names.
Now, at the intersection, I entered the distance between the each intersection (if exist).
Something like this:

   A B C D
A    5   2
B  5     2
C  3          
D  2

Note the distance AC vs CA. AC=3 but CA not exist because the traffic rules.
Between cities you will have always AC=CA=distance and this can simplify the schema.

After this, using recursive function, I was able to calculate the shortest distance between any points.

Note please that this was an approach "in force".
As I already said, the math give you better algorithms in the OPTIMIZATION area.