Re:Lies on the London Underground [video]
by citricsquid on Wednesday May 15, 2013 @10:37AM
(#5712248)
When I go through London I love being able to wait for a train to come along with an empty carriage. I laughed out loud last month when the first train that pulled into the station was packed and miserable people squashed themselves in even more so much so the door couldn't close properly because had they waited literally 45 seconds they would have been able to get onto the next train that was so empty it had half the seats available. Passing through London without time constraints is fantastic.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Lies on the London Underground [video]
by pavel_lishin on Wednesday May 15, 2013 @03:59PM
(#5714460)
The same sort of thing happens in NYC. If I see a crowd that's larger than normal trying to pack itself into a full train, odds seem to be about 90% that the next train will be significantly lighter, AND that it'll show up pretty soon.
I think the reason is that the first train to show up is delayed, so more time passes before it shows up, allowing a crowd to build up. They, then, all try to cram on the train that FINALLY got there because GOD who KNOWS how long it'll take for the NEXT ONE to get here. Meanwhile, 30 seconds later, I'm in a train car with a seat.
(NB: This seems to apply to the B/D/A/C lines in Midtown. As far as I know, the 4/5/6 is always a miserable pack of people doing their best impression of neutronium.)
Correct. "Why do two buses always come at once?" is explained by "bus bunching": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_bunching