English

Waiting-time paradox in 1922

Physics and Society 2020-05-29 v1

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.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.14081,
  title  = {Waiting-time paradox in 1922},
  author = {Naoki Masuda and Takayuki Hiraoka},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.14081},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

5 figures, 2 tables

R2 v1 2026-06-23T15:10:43.867Z