Simulating restaurant traffic using Wi-Fi data (WIP)

As part of an undergraduate research experience, two restaurants on the University of Mary Washington campus were simulated to determine how to decrease wait times. Dining halls on college campuses across the US have a similar problem when dealing with heavy traffic during lunch/dinner rush hour. As most classes are set around predefined class periods, students have short lunch/dinner breaks for meals. With the bulk of the students arriving at dining halls and local restaurants around the same time, students are forced to wait in several lines, and as they wait their dissatisfaction with the food service increases. The intent of this research was to create a model that can predict wait times for student dining on and off campus---ideally in real time---to increase efficiency and improve student satisfaction. The University of Mary Washington's Seacobeck dining facility and Home Team Grill, a traditional restaurant located on campus, were used to model and test the theories discussed in this paper.