Waits at reception and hand-outs depend not only on the tables and desks but on how people are called, what they can do while queuing and whether they are sent somewhere else. Here are four examples an AI simulated in earlier articles. The AI used the tool it calls over MCP (sweep_process_parameters), and each figure is the mean of 20 runs.
1. The waits, by the set-up
| Example | Set-up | What is measured | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| A shelter's meals (150 people, each collecting their own) | One table | Line wait (mean) | 22.0 minutes |
| A shelter's meals (150 people, each collecting their own) | Two tables | Line wait (mean) | 9.7 minutes |
| A shelter's meals (150 people, each collecting their own) | Two tables, areas called in turn | Line wait (mean) | 1.7 minutes |
| A shelter's reception (60 households) | One desk, cards filled in at the desk | Wait (mean) | 90.2 minutes |
| A shelter's reception (60 households) | Two desks, cards filled in at the desk | Wait (mean) | 26.1 minutes |
| A shelter's reception (60 households) | One desk, cards filled in while queuing | Wait (mean) | 18.4 minutes |
| A talk's interval (a community centre, 48) | 30% to the toilets, upstairs not used | Line wait (mean) | 3.5 minutes |
| A talk's interval (a community centre, 48) | 30% to the toilets, pointed upstairs | Line wait (mean) | 1.8 minutes |
| A talk's interval (a community centre, 48) | 50% to the toilets, upstairs not used | Line wait (mean) | 6.4 minutes |
| An exhibition's opening morning | Four staffed counters | Wait at the staffed counters (mean) | 9.0 minutes |
| An exhibition's opening morning | Six staffed counters | Wait at the staffed counters (mean) | 2.3 minutes |
| An exhibition's opening morning | Four staffed counters, 85% registered in advance | Wait at the staffed counters (mean) | 0.8 minutes |
2. What they show
- Change how people are called. At the shelter's meals, the line waits 9.7 minutes with two tables, and 1.7 with the areas called in turn as well.
- Do first what can be done while queuing. With the evacuee cards filled in while queuing, households at the shelter's single reception desk wait 18.4 minutes instead of 90.2, shorter than the 26.1 minutes with two desks. With 85% registered in advance, visitors at the exhibition's four counters wait 0.8 minutes instead of 9.0.
- Send people somewhere else. Pointing people to the upstairs toilets cuts the toilet queue in the talk's interval from 3.5 minutes to 1.8. With 50% going and nobody pointed upstairs, it is 6.4 minutes.
3. The articles
- How long is the queue for meals at a shelter?
- How many reception desks does an evacuation shelter need?
- How long should the interval of a talk be?
- How many registration desks for a trade show?
4. How to ask an AI
In this gym (as drawn, an evacuation shelter), with 60 households arriving just after it opens, compare the wait with one and two reception desks, and with the evacuee cards filled in at the desk and while queuing, 20 runs each.
5. What this does not cover
- The people and households that come and when, and the times to hand out, receive and use the toilets, are each article's assumptions. Replace them with your own site's records.
