[The Globe and Mail]
Both of you and me have met one of the most common problems: It is better to wait for a bus at this stop or go for a walk to meet the bus at the next stop? Recently, three mathematicians in the United States have worked out this common question which people are always brothering about. They set a formual to calculate the risk of missing a bus during you walking to the next stop. There are matters of "number of bus stops spaced along the bus route" "distance along the bus route" "bus speed" "walking speed" and "probability in time that a bus will show up". The result is that it is smart enough for you to take the lazy way of waiting for a bus if you do not want to take the risk of passing bus roaring by you before reaching the next stop. If you considering going for a walk, experts suggest you make the decision before you waiting for a bus.
We can always see large amount of people running following a bus and waving their hands asking drivers whether he or she can stop for a while and get onto the bus. Normally, it doesn't work! In my opinion, I prefer waiting for a bus rather than walking along the bus route. Although weather here in Montreal is terrible, the wind is horrible enough for me to get my face hurt on my way to stations. But instead of taking a risk of missing a running bus, I would like to wait for it. I hate the feeling of watching the running bus passing through by me and complain about my bad luck. I don't want to grit my teeth and jump heavily between two stops. So, what do you think about it? What would you prefer? Hating yourselves while doing exercise? Or wait for a bus in a wind?
[MY VOICE]
Link to the formula http://xxx.arxiv.org/abs/0801.0297
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