I was thinking of creating this very thing on several occasions being in an elevator. The logic of elevators is very intriguing and more complicated than people realize.
> the elevator continues to travel in its current direction (up or down) until empty, stopping only to let individuals off or to pick up new individuals heading in the same direction.
with the elevator staying on its last location if there are no new requests and there being no buffering time after a request, first come first served
This was made worse through the need to specify the number of people who are travelling to a specific floor so the algorithm can allocate enough space in each elevator. Large groups often ignored this so you’d often find that an elevator you’ve waited minutes for is full, and start the dance all over again.
Same thing happens with traffic lights.
But I also know most people prefer a driving trip where they’re continually moving rather than one where they’re basically stopped - even if the second is shorter in time.
“Apparent fairness” is an important design criteria for dealing with the public. Even if the system is actually incredibly unfair.