“We can use some fancy math to predict how long the line will get,” Keely Croxton of Ohio State says, then apply it to related problems. In response to a listener request, “Marketplace” host Kai ...

The study of how systems with limited resources distribute those resources to elements waiting in line, and how those elements respond. Examples include data traversing computer networks, phone calls ...

Let’s say you and your roommate have a little side business baking rhubarb pies at home and selling them on a street corner. Folks love pie, and you’re having trouble keeping up with demand. But you ...

Queueing theory rules everything around you. This newest version of our highly accessible, 30-page introduction to queueing theory demystifies the subject without requiring pages full of equations.

Queueing theory and stochastic models provide a mathematical framework for analysing systems in which tasks, customers or data packets arrive randomly and await service. Originating with simple single ...

Estimates indicate that Americans spend roughly 37 billion hours per year waiting in lines. And, the average consumer can spend up to two years waiting in lines! Recently, the TSA has made headlines ...