Waiting time. A bus company schedules two buses from the town center to the railway station via two different routes. The operation manager of the bus company wants to determine whether the buses meet the company’s benchmark for the maximum waiting time of the passengers. The reported mean waiting time of the first bus is five minutes while the median of the second is 10 minutes.

a. Assuming the statistics are accurate, which scheduled bus would you recommend to passengers. Why?

b. Upon further research on a sample of 150 passengers, the median and standard deviation for the first bus are found to be 2 and 1.5 minute respectively, while the mean and standard deviation for the second bus are found to be LAYOFF M02_MCCL3396_14_GE_C02.indd 140 29/09/2021 13:39 Supplementary Exercises 2.139–2.172 141 10 and 1.25 minute respectively. Describe the two buses’ waiting time distributions in detail given this additional information. Which scheduled bus would you recommend to passengers now? Why?

c. Note that nothing has been said about how the sample of passengers was selected. What additional information would be important regarding the sampling techniques employed by the bus company? Critical Thinking Challenges