Within a large metropolitan area, 22% of the commuters currently use the public transportation system, whereas the remaining 78% commute via automobile. The city has recently revitalized and expanded its public transportation system. It is expected that 6 months from now 29% of those who are now commuting to work via automobile will switch to public transportation, and 71% will continue to commute via automobile. At the same time, it is expected that 15% of those now using public transportation will commute via automobile and 85% will continue to use public transportation.
(a) Construct the transition matrix for the Markov chain that describes the change in the mode of transportation used by these commuters. (Do this on paper. Your teacher may ask you to turn in this work.)
(b) Find the initial distribution vector for this Markov chain. (Do this on paper. Your teacher may ask you to turn in this work.)
(c) What percentage of the commuters are expected to use public transportation 6 months from now?