Thus, an efficient solution in an actual building must take into account the distribution of the employees among the floors. For taller buildings, the traveling time will become more significant. In those cases fewer employees should be assigned to the elevators that serve the upper floors than are assigned to the elevators that serve the lower floors. The problem can be made more challenging by altering the number of elevators, the number of floors, and the number of individuals working on each floor. The rate of movement of elevators can be determined by observing buildings in the local area.
Some elevators move more quickly than others.
Entrance and exit times could also be measured by students collecting data on local elevators. In a similar manner, the number of workers, elevators, and floors could be taken from local contexts. The answers will depend on the nature of the building and the time of day. Without analysis, it will not be at all clear which strategy is best under specific conditions. A different example that students can easily explore in detail is the problem of situating a fire station or an emergency room in a city.