Mathematics – History and Overview
Scientific paper
2008-02-25
Mathematics
History and Overview
5 pages
Scientific paper
This mathematical recreation extends the analysis of a recent paper, asking when a traveller at a bus stop and not knowing the time of the next bus is best advised to wait or to start walking toward the destination. A detailed analysis and solution is provided for a very general class of probability distributions of bus arrival time, and the solution characterised in terms of a function analogous to the hazard rate in reliability theory. The note also considers the question of intermediate stops. It is found that the optimal strategy is not always the laziest, even when headways are not excessively long. For the common special case where one knows the (uniform) headway but not the exact timetable, it is shown that one should wait if the headway is less than the walking time (less bus travel time), and walk if the headway is more than twice this much. In between it may be better to wait or to walk, depending on one's confidence in being able to catch up to a passing bus.
No associations
LandOfFree
A Note on Walking Versus Waiting does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A Note on Walking Versus Waiting, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A Note on Walking Versus Waiting will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-603814