Customizable Contraction Hierarchies

Abstract: We consider the problem of quickly computing shortest paths in weighted graphs given auxiliary data derived in an expensive preprocessing phase. By adding a fast weight-customization phase, we extend Contraction Hierarchies by Geisberger et al to support the three-phase workflow introduced by Delling et al. Our Customizable Contraction Hierarchies use nested dissection orders as suggested by Bauer et al. We provide an in-depth experimental analysis on large road and game maps that clearly shows that Customizable Contraction Hierarchies are a very practicable solution in scenarios where edge weights often change.