With all the discussion recently about the JoeyTracker going online, I was amused to see that three Harvard mathematicians recently released a paper showing a formula for the optimal time that you should wait for a bus at a bus stop before giving up and walking it. Most students have to make this decision all the time (I know I did at Texas A&M, one of the largest college campuses in the nation). The outcome? I’ll spoil it a bit — you should either walk or wait right away, as waiting and then giving up and walking is the worst solution.

Of course, this is just the best you can do if you don’t know when the next bus is coming. Students at Tufts University know where the Joey is, and they can always make the optimal walk-or-wait choice.

Walk versus Wait: The Lazy Mathematician Wins: Paper (PDF), Coverage in New Scientist