Queue area
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (March 2015) |
Queue areas are places in which people queue (
Examples include checking out
Queueing[4] is a phenomenon in a number of fields, and has been extensively analysed in the study of queueing theory. In economics, queueing is seen as one way to ration scarce goods and services.
Types
Physical
History
The first written description of people standing in line is found in an 1837 book, The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle.[5] Carlyle described what he thought was a strange sight: people standing in an orderly line to buy bread from bakers around Paris.[5]
Typical applications
Queues can be found in railway stations to book tickets, at bus stops for boarding and at temples.[6][7][8]
Queues are generally found at transportation terminals where security screenings are conducted.
Large stores and supermarkets may have dozens of separate queues, but this can cause frustration, as different lines tend to be handled at different speeds; some people are served quickly, while others may wait for longer periods of time. Sometimes two people who are together split up and each waits in a different line; once it is determined which line is faster, the one in the slower line joins the other. Another arrangement is for everyone to wait in a single line;[9] a person leaves the line each time a service point opens up. This is a common setup in banks and post offices.
Organized queue areas are commonly found at
Design
When designing queues, planners attempt to make the wait as pleasant and as simple as possible.[citation needed][10] They employ several strategies to achieve this, including:
- Expanding the capacity of the queue, thus allowing more patrons to have a place. This can be achieved by:
- Increasing the length of the queue by making the queue longer
- Increasing the size of the lanes within the queue
- Increasing the length of the queue by designing the line in a "zig-zag" shape that holds a large number of guests in a smaller area. This is used often at amusement parks. Notable rides have a large area of this kind of line to hold as many people as possible in line. Portions of the line can be sectioned off and bypassed by guests if the queue is not crowded.
- "In-line" entertainment can be added. This is popular at amusement parks like Walt Disney World, which uses TV screens and other visuals to keep people in the queue area occupied.
- Secondary queue areas for patrons with special tickets, like the Legoland Windsor.
Psychology
People experience "occupied" time as shorter than "unoccupied" time, and generally overestimate the amount of time waited by around 36%.[11]
The technique of giving people an activity to distract them from a wait has been used to reduce complaints of delays at:[11]
- Baggage claimin the Houston, Texas airport, by moving the arrival gates further away so passengers spend more time walking than standing around waiting
- Elevators, by adding mirrors so people can groom themselves or watch other people
- Retail checkout, by placing small items for purchase so customers can continue shopping while waiting
Other techniques to reduce queueing anxiety include:[11]
- Hiding the length of a line by wrapping it around a corner.
- Having only one line, so there is no anxiety about which line to choose and a greater sense of fairness. Even though the average wait over time is the same, customers tend to notice lines that are moving faster than they are compared to other lines moving more slowly.
- Putting up signs that deliberately overestimate the wait time, to always exceed customer expectations.
Cutting in line, also known as queue-jumping, can generate a strong negative response, depending on the local cultural norms.
Virtual
Physical queueing is sometimes replaced by virtual queueing. In a waiting room there may be a system whereby the queuer asks and remembers where their place is in the queue, or reports to a desk and signs in, or takes a ticket with a number from a machine. These queues typically are found at
Restaurants have come to employ virtual queueing techniques with the availability of application-specific pagers, which alert those waiting that they should report to the host to be seated. Another option used at restaurants is to assign customers a confirmed return time, basically a reservation issued on arrival.
Virtual queueing apps are available that allow the customers to view the virtual queue status of a business and they can take virtual queue numbers remotely. The app can be used to get updates of the virtual queue status that the customer is in.
Alternate activities
A substitute or alternative activity may be provided for people to participate in while waiting to be called, which reduces the perceived waiting time and the probability that the customer will abort their visit. For example, a busy restaurant might seat waiting customers a bar. An outdoor attraction with long virtual queues might have a side
Mobile
All of the above methods, however, suffer from the same drawback: the person arrives at the location only to find out that they need to wait. Recently, queues at
See also
References
- ^ LearnersDictionary.com
- ^ Watson, Jim. "Better layouts for queue lines". jamesrobertwatson.com. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
- Infogrames. Scene: Footpaths window (normal gameplay). When the cursor hovers over the queue line options for a few seconds in the "Footpaths" window, a pop-up that says "Queue line paths" appears.
- ^ Also spelled queuing."QUEUE | Meaning & Definition for UK English | Lexico.com". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
- ^ a b Keiles, Jamie Lauren (1 January 2018). "Why We Wait in Lines". Racked. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
- ^ "Queues get longer at railway station". The Hindu. Mangalore. 3 May 2012. Retrieved Mar 2, 2015.
- ^ "Many bus stops in Mumbai not in 'BEST' shape". Daily News and Analysis. Mumbai. 28 May 2011. Retrieved Mar 2, 2015.
- ^ "Shirdi: Now, pay extra for VIP 'aartis' at Sai Baba temple". NDTV. Shirdi. 17 November 2013. Retrieved Mar 2, 2015.
- ^ "Ultimate Guide to Queue Management Systems in Banks". 2023-07-16. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Ledbetter, Jonathan (28 April 2013). "Your Wait Time From This Point Will Be . . . Practices for Designing Amusement Park Queues".
- ^ a b c Alex Stone (Aug 18, 2012). "Why Waiting Is Torture". The New York Times.
- ^ Supalocal, "Master the art of substitution", April 12, 2011, accessed July 11, 2011.
- ^ DMV’s New Line Management System is Available Online Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c "Exit waiting in line, enter QLess". Vator.tv. 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
- ^ "Could your practice's waiting area become obsolete? : Noteworthy – A Family Practice Management blog". Blogs.aafp.org. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
Further reading
- Maister, D.H. (1988). Managing Services: Marketing, Operations and Human Resources. Prentice-Hall.
- Mercer, David. Redefining marketing in the multi-channel age. Wiley.
External links
- For insight into the British habit of queueing, see standinaqueue