QUEUEING THEORY IN PARADISE

I had a college roommate who majored in the arcane field of queueing theory. (the mathematical study of waiting in lines).   

 Why would I mention that fact with respect to life in paradise?  I'll admit that it's somewhat of a stretch, but the logic has to do with the fact I occasionally take the Metro Silver Line from Reston to my job in Arlington.  I took public transportation to work for the first thirty years of my career, but now that Metro has come out to Reston, is actually faster and cheaper for me to drive to work with my wife.  We happen to work within a couple of blocks of each other and have synced our work schedules.  Every now and then our schedule gets disrupted and I find myself taking a local bus from my house to Wiehle Metro; jumping on the the Silver Line to my stop, and then walking a couple of blocks to my job.  Driving to work is a thirty minute trip.  Taking Metro turns it into a 90 minute trip.  

 Anyhow, if you live in the Washington DC area you'll know that Metro is having its share of issues, including maintenance issues; safety concerns; rising costs; and declining ridership.

 I think this photo may explain part of the problem.  

I won't tell you which Metro stop this is (I bet someone out there will be able to guess), but as I was coming up the stairs this morning I was confronted with a bank of five turnstiles.  The problem was all of them were set up so you couldn't get out.  Luckily there were five more turnstiles on the left side of the station and one of them was actually set to let you exit.

 Yes, it appears Metro needs to hire someone with a background in queuing theory.

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