Approximation algorithms for time-dependent orienteering

The time-dependent orienteering problem is dual to the timedependent traveling salesman problem. It consists in visiting a maximum number of sites within a given deadline. The traveling time between two sites is in general dependent on the starting time. We provide a (2 + Ɛ)-approximation algorithm for the time-dependent orienteering problem which runs in polynomial time if the ratio between the maximum and minimum traveling time between any two sites is constant. No prior upper approximation bounds were known for this time-dependent problem.

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