Waiting-time paradox in 1922
arXiv:2004.14081 · doi:10.22191/nejcs/vol2/iss1/1
Abstract
We present an English translation and discussion of an essay that a Japanese physicist, Torahiko Terada, wrote in 1922. In the essay, he described the waiting-time paradox, also called the bus paradox, which is a known mathematical phenomenon in queuing theory, stochastic processes, and modern temporal network analysis. He also observed and analyzed data on Tokyo City trams to verify the relevance of the waiting-time paradox to busy passengers in Tokyo at the time. This essay seems to be one of the earliest documentations of the waiting-time paradox in a sufficiently scientific manner.
5 figures, 2 tables