How to inspect a routing solution

Routing
Validation
ViaViz
A short workflow for relating aggregate indicators to route behavior in space and time.
Published

July 27, 2026

A routing solution describes more than an objective value. It also determines where agents travel, when they arrive, how long they wait, and which requests they serve. Visual inspection helps connect those decisions to the reported indicators.

Begin with the quantitative result

Record the indicators that define the experiment: distance, waiting time, service rate, utilization, runtime, and rejected requests. These values establish what the solution achieved.

Replay one scenario

Open a compatible scenario in ViaViz. Follow a small number of agents through time before interpreting the full system. Check their routes, stop sequences, loads, arrivals, waiting, service, and departures.

Look for operational patterns

Identify repeated concentration, cycling, unexpected detours, delayed service, or excessive waiting. Describe the observed pattern before proposing an explanation.

Relate behavior to the model

Compare the replay with the model’s assumptions and decision rules. A concentration pattern may follow directly from a rebalancing rule. A detour may reflect network paths, time windows, or the order in which requests were assigned.

NoteRole of visual inspection

Visual inspection complements quantitative evaluation. It helps explain behavior that aggregate indicators summarize but do not show directly.

Use the observation as a diagnostic

Return to the algorithm only after identifying a specific behavior and a plausible mechanism. Then revise the model, policy, or implementation and compare the new replay with the same indicators.

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