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I'm pretty sure there is some fundamental queueing theory to back this up, as it's the main takeaway I had from a queuing theory course I took in college. Can't

I'm pretty sure there is some fundamental queueing theory to back this up, as it's the main takeaway I had from a queuing theory course I took in college. Can't remember the details though, so I'm not sure it would still apply if a single queue entailed long walks from the head of the queue to the nearest available 'processor'. EDIT: more background here https://possiblywrong.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/why-multiple-checkout-lines-are-not-all-bad/ https://possiblywrong.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/why-multiple-... It appears you might be right in practice.

Dylan16807 12y ago
I was going to link that too but I realized it had total throughput of cashiers as faster than customers. That means there are idle lines without people switching, which is not realistic at all. I'm really at a loss about what they made faster.
mistermann 12y ago
From your link: "for 3 cashiers, it’s about 3 times faster than having a single line for each cashier.”" I would very much like someone to take me to a place in the physical world and show me an improvement of this magnitude. I simply cannot see how (in a setting like a bank or grocery store) this theory is nothing short of absolute insanity. EDIT: I just watched that video - is that guy trolling viewers? If you lose 1/3 of your cashiers, it has no effect on total throughput if you are using a single line queue? Just wow.