The Online $k$-Taxi Problem Is Competitive on All Metrics

Abstract

The online $k$-taxi problem is a natural generalization of the $k$-server problem: $k$ taxis must serve a sequence of requests in a metric space. Each request is a pair of points $(r,s)$, and the algorithm serves the request by first moving a taxi to $r$ (to pick up a passenger) and then to $s$ (to drop off the passenger). The cost is the total distance traveled by the taxis without a passenger. Previous bounds for general $k$ all depended on the number of points $n$ or the aspect ratio $\Delta$ of the metric space, both of which can be infinite on general metrics, and competitive algorithms were previously known on general metrics only for $k\le 3$. In this work, we give a $9^{k-1}$-competitive randomized algorithm against adaptive online adversaries and, as a corollary, an $81^{k-1}$-competitive deterministic algorithm for the online $k$-taxi problem.