Loading locations faster in ArcGIS Network Analyst?

Question

I am currently using ArcGis Network Analyst to calculate an OD cost matrix.

I was wondering whether there is a faster way to load my locations (origins, destinations and barriers) because my current rate is around 10 locations loaded per second (which is quite slow for I have about 7.000 points to load).

Moreover, is there a way to save these locations in order to use them later?

I think of origins/destinations but also of the barriers. I didn't find anything about this in the ArcGIS documentation.

Answer 1

I finally found a way to improve the loading speed in network analyst.

First, I mention that I upgraded to ArcGIS 10.1, but the problem was the same in this version.

In order to have a very fast loading, it is better if you place all the data you will need in a single file geodatabase .gdb file using ArcCatalog. Inside this geodatabase, create a new feature dataset where you will load the line feature containing your future network dataset.

Once it is loaded, create a network dataset inside your geodatabase. Do not forget to place your origins/destinations and barriers in the same geodatabase.

Using this kind of file instead of a shapefile has increased dramatically the loading speed in network analyst for me.

Answer 2

check out this answer, Jay Sandhu explained exactly why the slow loading showing up, and his solution worked on me! what used to cost more than 10 hours, now can be done in less than 1 minutes! so happy, can't thank him enough.

In a word: just make sure your street shapefile has a proper spatial index before you create the network dataset. If not, create one.