Queueing Theory

(updated  31st August 2007)

Keywords: simulating people, simulating crowds, simulating crowd dynamics

One of the most important concepts in crowd dynamics is queueing theory.

Q: What is Queueing Theory ?

A: The primary tool for studying the problem of congestion is known as Queueing Theory. Any system in which arrivals place a demand upon a finite capacity, a limited space or limited resources may be termed a Queueing System. Queueing Theory is a branch of statistics which deals with arrival times of people (or transport) and service rates (time taken for change, or buying something, tickets, gates, etc). 

Q: What are some of the applications of queueing theory?

A: Queueing theory is useful in crowd dynamics, turnstile design, entry and exit systems, concession planning and crowd flow assessment, venue ticket sales, queueing race design and transport loading (to and from a venue), density and emergency egress analysis, traffic control and planning, determining the sequence of computer operations, predicting computer performance, telecommunications, health services (eg. control of hospital bed assignments), airport traffic, airline ticket sales, the mining industry, layout of manufacturing systems, capacity planning for busses and trains, dwell time analysis at stations and many more logistic problems that can effect a venue. It is even useful in determining when to remove a goalie in a hockey game!

There are many books written about "Queueing Theory" and we run workshops on the basics of modelling queues, congestion and systems analysis.