Abstract
We investigated the benefits of developing a circular forest road network, in which a patrol coefficient was introduced as a new index for showing network development. In this paper, patrol means traveling all roads at least once and return to the start point while minimizing the total driving distance. The patrol coefficient showed a close correlation with the ratio of circular roads to the total length of the network, and the sum of both values was found to be always at least 2. When the traffic benefit between two points was expressed using the traveling and direct distances, the benefit increased as the network was developed. While the points of greatest traffic benefits in networks were usually the start points, these benefits were not affected by the development of the network. This may have been due to the fact that topography made it difficult to construct roads connecting start points with other points on the network that were shorter than existing roads. The patrol coefficient is effective for evaluating the development process from non-circular roads into circular networks and for understanding the stage of development of circular forest road networks.
