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arXiv · 2004.14081

Waiting-time paradox in 1922

Naoki Masuda·Takayuki Hiraoka
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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.

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Naoki Masuda, Takayuki Hiraoka. 2020-04-29. Waiting-time paradox in 1922. https://doi.org/10.22191/nejcs%2Fvol2%2Fiss1%2F1

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