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It isn't half annoying when you're on the London Underground or a bus, and there's an announcement that you will be waiting for a few minutes at a particular st

It isn't half annoying when you're on the London Underground or a bus, and there's an announcement that you will be waiting for a few minutes at a particular stop to "even out gaps in the service". It seems so perverse to artificially delay a load of passengers because others are running late. But at a system level it probably makes sense.

federiconafria 1y ago
They could probably spread the wait and no one would notice...
manbitesdog 1y ago
If the lane is frequent enough, a 2-3 minutes delay is fine. In many European cities the schedule is not specific times but frequencies per time of the day. Like "from 7AM to 11AM, one bus every 8 minutes". Then you have the bus app if you want to optimize further (and if you're me, miss it because of being too tight)
- tapland 1y ago
  That’s usually how they’re scheduled though, and it’s printed that way to make the timetable shorter and much easier to read.
- anonymous_sorry 1y ago
  I meant when you're already on the vehicle mid-journey, and you just have to sit at a random stop for a while so you don't catch up to the one in front. I get why, it just feels like your time is being wasted. Of course, the trade-off is that next time you'll have a shorter wait to catch a bus or train because some other passengers had to sit and twiddle their thumbs for a bit
  - bacontremors 1y ago
    [dead]
DharmaPolice 1y ago
I get on many buses and 90% of the time the message is played about "Evening out the service" it's because the drivers shift is about to end and he/she doesn't want to wait at the driver changeover stop too long.
globular-toast 1y ago
That's how global optimisation works. Generally speaking you will always miss out on a bunch of local optima when you go for a global optimum. This was well understood by designers in metro systems like the London Underground[0] and road signs. When each individual strives for the best result for themselves (a local optimum) we often end up in a worse result for everyone (see tragedy of the commons, prisoners' dilemma etc). [0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IrHRQSm6LIs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IrHRQSm6LIs
namenotrequired 1y ago
Where I live they say it’s “so everyone can make the bus in time” and it’s always made sense to me. Running to arrive at a bus stop just in time, only to find it passed two minutes ahead of schedule, is way worse

federiconafria 1y ago

They could probably spread the wait and no one would notice...

manbitesdog 1y ago

If the lane is frequent enough, a 2-3 minutes delay is fine. In many European cities the schedule is not specific times but frequencies per time of the day. Like "from 7AM to 11AM, one bus every 8 minutes". Then you have the bus app if you want to optimize further (and if you're me, miss it because of being too tight)

tapland 1y ago
That’s usually how they’re scheduled though, and it’s printed that way to make the timetable shorter and much easier to read.
anonymous_sorry 1y ago
I meant when you're already on the vehicle mid-journey, and you just have to sit at a random stop for a while so you don't catch up to the one in front. I get why, it just feels like your time is being wasted. Of course, the trade-off is that next time you'll have a shorter wait to catch a bus or train because some other passengers had to sit and twiddle their thumbs for a bit
- bacontremors 1y ago
  [dead]

DharmaPolice 1y ago

I get on many buses and 90% of the time the message is played about "Evening out the service" it's because the drivers shift is about to end and he/she doesn't want to wait at the driver changeover stop too long.

globular-toast 1y ago

That's how global optimisation works. Generally speaking you will always miss out on a bunch of local optima when you go for a global optimum. This was well understood by designers in metro systems like the London Underground[0] and road signs. When each individual strives for the best result for themselves (a local optimum) we often end up in a worse result for everyone (see tragedy of the commons, prisoners' dilemma etc). [0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IrHRQSm6LIs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IrHRQSm6LIs

namenotrequired 1y ago

Where I live they say it’s “so everyone can make the bus in time” and it’s always made sense to me. Running to arrive at a bus stop just in time, only to find it passed two minutes ahead of schedule, is way worse