Hello, Stranger, Wanna Share a Cab?

Imagine a world where your cab ride isn’t just cheaper, but more efficient. No more waiting in long lines at the airport taxi stand or counting the passing minutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic as you inch through Times Square. All you have to do is share a cab with a stranger, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Steven Strogatz, a mathematician and one of the study’s authors, talks about whether these statistical possibilities could work in the real world. (Plus, watch a taxi in action in this data visualization. Note, this project is not part of MIT’s study.)