Late Passenger Algorithms
Everyone who uses public transport at least once in their life has come across the fact that the right bus was leaving from under his nose. It would seem that literally a few seconds was not enough to catch it, but the doors were already closed and the bus started moving, leaving a breathless and saddened person at the stop. And most often the fault is not the bad character of the driver and not the physical preparation of the “runner”, but the incorrect goal setting. However, first things first.
Imagine a situation when a person has not yet reached the stop, but saw that the bus with the right number is already completing the boarding of passengers. Let us take a situation that statistically more often than others ends sadly: a man saw his bus and at that moment he was not at right angles to the doors and not in front of the driver’s cabin, but at an angle to the back of the bus outside the driver’s field of vision. See fig. 1.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
A person has the goal of "running out before the bus leaves." When setting such a task, it is most logical to use the shortest possible distance in a straight line from the start point to the vehicle doors in the shortest possible time (see Figure 2). As we know from the course of school physics, for this we need the maximum speed. But since we do not know the time before closing the doors, often even the maximum speed gained is not enough to overcome the required distance.
But if we formulate the goal differently, then the solution to this seemingly simple task will become different. The goal is not to "run until the bus leaves," but "let the bus not leave while I am running." Now you just need to run to the road, and then move along towards the bus (see Fig. 3). The fact is that the driver, before closing the doors, looks in the side mirror for safety reasons. He will definitely notice you and, most likely, will wait.
Fig. 3
After the introduction of the human factor in setting goals, even in solving such a trivial task as getting to the bus, the frequency of successful completion of the mission increased tenfold. To consolidate the material and expand the scope for discussion in the comments, I propose the question: which hand is best to hold the handrail while the vehicle is moving, right or left? Try to use not only the physics and anatomy of a person, but also the human factor when searching for an answer.
Imagine a situation when a person has not yet reached the stop, but saw that the bus with the right number is already completing the boarding of passengers. Let us take a situation that statistically more often than others ends sadly: a man saw his bus and at that moment he was not at right angles to the doors and not in front of the driver’s cabin, but at an angle to the back of the bus outside the driver’s field of vision. See fig. 1.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
A person has the goal of "running out before the bus leaves." When setting such a task, it is most logical to use the shortest possible distance in a straight line from the start point to the vehicle doors in the shortest possible time (see Figure 2). As we know from the course of school physics, for this we need the maximum speed. But since we do not know the time before closing the doors, often even the maximum speed gained is not enough to overcome the required distance.
But if we formulate the goal differently, then the solution to this seemingly simple task will become different. The goal is not to "run until the bus leaves," but "let the bus not leave while I am running." Now you just need to run to the road, and then move along towards the bus (see Fig. 3). The fact is that the driver, before closing the doors, looks in the side mirror for safety reasons. He will definitely notice you and, most likely, will wait.
Fig. 3
After the introduction of the human factor in setting goals, even in solving such a trivial task as getting to the bus, the frequency of successful completion of the mission increased tenfold. To consolidate the material and expand the scope for discussion in the comments, I propose the question: which hand is best to hold the handrail while the vehicle is moving, right or left? Try to use not only the physics and anatomy of a person, but also the human factor when searching for an answer.