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The waiting time paradox: why is my bus always late? (2018)

(jakevdp.github.io)
219 points skadamat | 3 comments | 20 Aug 24 13:55 UTC | HN request time: 0.762s | source
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kwhitefoot ◴[20 Aug 24 19:47 UTC] No.41303348[source]▶
I haven't read the article but just to answer the question in the title: Buses must always be late because a bus that leaves early is even more useless.
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1. asdff ◴[20 Aug 24 21:12 UTC] No.41304127[source]▶
Well, they leave early all the time too.
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2. kwhitefoot ◴[01 Sep 24 08:50 UTC] No.41415322[source]▶
Really? Where? That happened about twenty years ago where I live in Norway. The result was that bus drivers got severe tellings off, mostly from elderly women who had been used to arriving at the bus stop just in time. After a couple of weeks the practice was stopped.
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3. asdff ◴[09 Sep 24 18:59 UTC] No.41492209[source]▶
Here in the U.S. It probably happens to me personally about once a month as a commuter. Sometimes the bus just ends up a little faster than anticipated. Other times the bus driver is trying to get ahead of the schedule to buy them more time to run in to a mcdonalds and get food (I've only seen this once though). If they end up late its pretty bad for them as it eats into their break time on the bus layover.