A parameterized approximation algorithm for the mixed and windy Capacitated Arc Routing Problem: theory and experiments

We prove that any polynomial-time $α(n)$-approximation algorithm for the $n$-vertex metric asymmetric Traveling Salesperson Problem yields a polynomial-time $O(α(C))$-approximation algorithm for the mixed and windy Capacitated Arc Routing Problem, where $C$ is the number of weakly connected components in the subgraph induced by the positive-demand arcs---a small number in many applications. In conjunction with known results, we obtain constant-factor approximations for $C\in O(\log n)$ and $O(\l...