Strategic timing of arrivals to a queueing system with scheduled customers

Abstract

This paper examines a single-server queueing system that serves both scheduled and strategic walk-in customers. The service discipline follows a first-come, first-served policy, with scheduled customers granted non-preemptive priority. Each walk-in customer strategically chooses their arrival time to minimise their expected waiting time, taking into account the reservation schedule and the decisions of other walk-in customers. We derive the Nash equilibrium arrival distribution for walk-in customers. We also study the case where early arrivals are allowed and analyse its impact on equilibrium arrival patterns. By analysing various appointment schedules, we assess their effects on equilibrium arrival behaviour, waiting times, and server idle time. Finally, we compare different scheduling policies and evaluate their impact on overall system performance.