Service Management: Operations, Strategy, Information Technology 8th Edition by James Fitzsimmons,Mona Fitzsimmons,Sanjeev Bordoloi

Exercise 35

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has been studying congestion at the boat-launching ramp near Mansfield Dam. On weekends, the arrival rate averages 5 boaters per hour, Poisson distributed. The average time to launch or retrieve a boat is 10 minutes, with negative exponential distribution. Assume that only one boat can be launched or retrieved at a time.
a. The LCRA plans to add another ramp when the average turnaround time (i.e., time in the system) exceeds 90 minutes. At what average arrival rate per hour should the LCRA begin to consider adding another ramp?
b. If there were room to park only 2 boats at the top of the ramp in preparation for launching, how often would an arrival find insufficient parking space?