We present an efficient, reliable, and easy-to-implement algorithm to compute steady-state probabilities for birth-death processes whose upper-tail probabilities decay geometrically or faster. The algorithm can provide any required accuracy and avoids over- and underflow. In addition to...

Using administrative data for high-priority calls in Calgary, Alberta, we estimate how ambulance travel times depend on distance. We find that a logarithmic transformation produces symmetric travel-time distributions with heavier tails than those of a normal distribution. Guided by nonparametric...