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Queue areas are areas in which people queue in line (first-come, first-served) for goods or services. Examples include checking out the groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, or in a taxi stand. In economics, queuing is seen as one way to ration scarce goods and services.
Queuing is a common phenomenon in a number of fields, and has been extensively analyzed, in the study of queuing theory.
Highly organized queue areas are commonly found at amusement parks. The rides have a fixed number of guests that can be served at any given time therefore amusement parks have to control those waiting. This leads to the development of formalized queue areas – areas in which the lines of people waiting to board the rides are organized by railings, and may be given shelter from the elements with a roof over their heads. In some amusement parks – Walt Disney World is an example – queue areas can be elaborately decorated, thus potentially shortening the perceived wait for some people in the queue, by giving them something interesting to look at.
Long queues can sometimes be found at the terminals for cruise ships, where elaborate security precautions are necessary to prevent Hijackings, stowaways, and terrorist attacks. Also, it is customary to photograph passengers at the gangplank for souvenir photos further slowing the queue.
Sometimes there are separate lines for getting to service points. 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, but others may get stuck waiting for long periods of time. Sometimes two people who are together each wait in a different line, and later the one in the slower line joins the other. A better arrangement (if space in the store permits) is for everyone waiting to be put in one line. One person leaves the queue each time a service point opens up. This is a common setup in banks.
The term "queue" is used more in British English, while the word "line" is used mostly in American English.
Queuing
In the specific context of queues associated with provision of a traditional services, David Maister listed a number of 'proportions', the principles behind which have wider applicability:
- Unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time
- Preprocess waits feel longer than in-process waits
- Anxiety makes waits seem longer
- Uncertain waits are longer then known, finite waits
- Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits
- Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits
- The more valuable the service the longer the customer will wait
- Solo waits feel longer than group waits
Virtual queueing
Instead of physical queueing there may be virtual queueing. In a waiting room there may be a system whereby the queuer asks and remembers where his place is in the queue,, or reports to a desk and is called when it is his/her turn, or takes a ticket with a number from a machine. It applies at the doctor/hospital, and at offices where many people visit, like the town hall, social security office, labor exchange, bank or post office. In some countries such as Sweden virtual queues are also common in shops and railway stations. A display usually shows the current number.
Restaurants have come to employ virtual queueing techniques with the availability of cheap "buzzers", which alert those waiting that they should report to the host to be seated. This is especially effective for restaurants that have long wait times but do not accept advance reservations.
Queue Design
When designing queues, planners attempt to make the wait as pleasant as possible to keep customers happy. They employ several strategies to achieve this end, including:
- The length of the queue can be prolonged. For example, this is done in certain airport terminals that expand the queue area to "force" the people to take a longer route in order to arrive at their luggage pick-up point. The perception is that people think they never had to wait, although they just walked 5 minutes more than in the "normal" case.
- New facilities can be opened. A common example is the opening of new box-offices during peak-times at theatres. However, this sometimes has a retroactive effect as more people will go to that theatre, negating the wait-shortening effects. Another example is found on highways, where the construction of more roads to prevent traffic jams does not always work. If there is a "fast route" and a "slow route" to reach a destination, this can change in a second,as cars try to take the "fast route", which becomes congested. As a consequence, it takes an even longer time to reach the destination.
- "In-line" entertainment can be added. This is popular at amusement parks like Walt Disney World, which uses TV screens to keep people in the queue area occupied.
Other waiting rooms
Waiting rooms without maintaining an order of arrival or of being served are in train stations, bus depots, airports, and other public transport terminals. Some waiting rooms are restricted to ticketed passengers, especially at airports and in depots of major cities.
References
- D.H. Maister, The psychology of waiting lines, Managing Services: Marketing, Operations and Human Resources (Prentice-Hall, 1988)
- David Mercer, Redefining marketing in the multi-channel age (Wiley)
See also
- Human positions
- Consumer goods in the Soviet Union for information on queues in the Soviet Union
- Cutting (in line)
"Queue area"