Updated venue and Zoom link: Lunch in Theory (Spring Recess) Talk by Edith Elkind on Thursday [12:00 PM, 03/19, GCS 107]

[David Kempe]

Hi everyone,

two further updates on Edith's talk:

1. Because we expect somewhat higher turnout for Edith's talk than
usual theory seminars, we have updated the venue to GCS 107 (GCS
Boardroom).

2. We now have a Zoom link for those who cannot attend in person:
https://usc.zoom.us/j/93629307107?pwd=UmDc70ngowbilGl50tQEns7l3YtwAN.1

So here is the updated summarized information:

Time: Thursday, 03/19, 12:00 noon.
(This is the start of the talk, different from our usual "meet at
12:00, start at 12:30" Lunch in Theory schedule)

Location: GCS 107
(This might also make it easier for our friends from other departments
to actually get to the seminar room.)

Zoom link:
https://usc.zoom.us/j/93629307107?pwd=UmDc70ngowbilGl50tQEns7l3YtwAN.1

Title, speaker and abstract as below.

>> Hi all,
>>
>> Please join us for▒Lunch▒in▒Theory▒this Wednesday, 03/18 at 12:00 PM in GCS
>> 302c. This week we have▒Edith Elkind presenting! Please find the title and
>> abstract attached.
>>
>> Reminder: Please bring your own▒lunch, as▒lunch▒will not be provided.
>>
>> Best,
>> Devansh
>
>> Title: Fair and efficient bus stop allocation
>> Abstract: We consider a stylized formal model of public transportation,
>> where a set of agents need to travel along a given road, and there is
>> a▒bus▒that runs the length of this road. Each agent has a left terminal and
>> a right terminal between which they wish to travel; they can walk all the
>> way, or walk to/from the nearest▒stop and use the▒bus▒for the rest of their
>> journey. The▒bus▒can make a fixed number of stops, and the planner needs to
>> select locations for these stops. We study notions of efficiency and
>> fairness for this setting. We give a polynomial-time algorithm for computing
>> a solution that minimizes the total travel time; our approach can capture
>> further extensions of the base model, such as more general cost functions or
>> existing infrastructure. Further, we develop a polynomial-time algorithm
>> that outputs solutions with provable fairness guarantees (such as a variant
>> of the justified representation axiom or $2$-approximate core). We then
>> explore whether our results can be extended to tree networks.▒
>>
>> Based on joint work with Martin Bullinger and Mohamad Latifian (AAMAS'25)
>> and work in progress with Martin Bullinger, Mehrad Abbaszadeh and Arash
>> Norozzade.

[David Kempe]

Hi everyone,

one more reminder that today at noon in GCS 107 will be Edith Elkind's
seminar talk. Looking forward to see many of you there.
Information below.

Speaker: Prof. Edith Elkind, Northwestern University

Time: Thursday, 03/19, 12:00 noon.
(This is the start of the talk, different from our usual "meet at
12:00, start at 12:30" Lunch in Theory schedule)

Location: GCS 107

Zoom link:
https://usc.zoom.us/j/93629307107?pwd=UmDc70ngowbilGl50tQEns7l3YtwAN.1

Title: Fair and efficient bus stop allocation
Abstract: We consider a stylized formal model of public transportation,
where a set of agents need to travel along a given road, and there is

a?bus?that runs the length of this road. Each agent has a left terminal and

a right terminal between which they wish to travel; they can walk all the

way, or walk to/from the nearest?stop and use the?bus?for the rest of their
journey. The?bus?can make a fixed number of stops, and the planner needs to

select locations for these stops. We study notions of efficiency and
fairness for this setting. We give a polynomial-time algorithm for computing
a solution that minimizes the total travel time; our approach can capture
further extensions of the base model, such as more general cost functions or
existing infrastructure. Further, we develop a polynomial-time algorithm
that outputs solutions with provable fairness guarantees (such as a variant
of the justified representation axiom or $2$-approximate core). We then

explore whether our results can be extended to tree networks.?

Based on joint work with Martin Bullinger and Mohamad Latifian (AAMAS'25)
and work in progress with Martin Bullinger, Mehrad Abbaszadeh and Arash
Norozzade.

--
David Kempe <david....@gmail.com>