pochway

Pochway is an open-source software framework for modeling and solving pathway optimization problems in transport and urban networks. It provides a modular platform for constructing graphs from spatial data, configuring data adapters, and applying multi-criteria optimization to identify efficient routes and network designs. The project aims for reproducibility and transparency, offering configurable solvers, scenario analysis tools, and visualization capabilities.

Origins and development: The project was conceived by researchers at the Center for Urban Mobility Studies in the mid-2010s. The first public release appeared in 2018, with ongoing development by a community of contributors. Pochway is distributed under an open-source license and encourages collaborative improvement and peer review.

Technical design: Pochway comprises a core graph engine, modular data adapters (for OpenStreetMap, GTFS, and other sources), and optional solver backends. It supports Python and C++ interfaces, enabling rapid prototyping and performance tuning. Features include real-time data integration, multi-criteria optimization (time, distance, emissions, reliability), Pareto-front analysis, and export of results to GeoJSON or CSV. The system emphasizes extensibility through plugins for visualization, import/export formats, and custom solvers.

Applications: It is used in urban planning to evaluate proposed street networks, in logistics for route and depot optimization, and in emergency response planning to simulate rapid deployment. Researchers employ Pochway to compare scenarios, test policy interventions, and communicate results to non-technical stakeholders.

Reception: In academic and municipal contexts, Pochway is valued for its flexibility and openness, though some users report a steep learning curve and performance challenges on very large networks without proper hardware or optimization tuning.

See also: Pathfinding algorithm, Route planning, Geographic information system, Multi-criteria decision analysis.