Queue area

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For the general theory of a Queue see Queue. For other uses see Queue (disambiguation).

Queue areas are places in which people in line, (first-come, first-served), wait 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.

People waiting in a queue

Queuing is a common phenomenon in a number of fields, and has been extensively analyzed, in the study of queuing theory.

The term "queue" is used more in British English, while the word "line" is used mostly in American English.

1 Types of queues
- 1.1 Physical queue
- 1.2 Virtual queue
2 Queue Ethics
3 Physical queue design
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Types of queues

[edit] Physical queue

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, inside an climate controlled building or with fans and misting devices. 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.

Queues are generally found at transportation terminals where security screenings are conducted.

Four aircraft wait at the Queue Area at London Heathrow Airport, for take off from runway 27R

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 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.

[edit] Virtual queue

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 signs in, or takes a ticket with a number from a machine. These queues typically are found at doctor offices, hospitals, town halls, social security offices, labor exchanges, banks or post offices. Especially in the United Kingdom, tickets are taken to form a virtual queue at delicatessens and children's shoe-shops. In some countries such as Sweden virtual queues are also common in shops and railway stations. A display sometimes shows the number that was last called for service.

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 once you arrive.

[edit] Queue Ethics

Since queuing can be a boring and time-consuming activity, people can become angry when unwritten rules of queuing are broken. These ethics can very from country to country. For example, in Britain it's unacceptable to queue-jump (to push-in, to cut in line), although it's sometimes acceptable for one member of a party, waiting in the queue, to allow a second member of the party to join the first halfway through the queuing process, without the second member having to join the back of the queue. In Russia for example, they have the art of queuing finely-honed: it is acceptable for a person to leave the queue to use the bathroom, etc, and return to their original place, without having to ask their neighbours to hold their place or to be allowed to return. It is also common for a person to be allowed to jump to the front of the queue in a train station to buy a ticket if their train is leaving imminently and if waiting from the back of the queue would cause them to miss their train.

[edit] Physical queue design

When designing queues, planners attempt to make the wait as pleasant and as simple as possible. They employ several strategies to achieve this end, 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
"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.
Secondary queue areas for patrons with special tickets, like the FASTPASS system at Walt Disney World.

[edit] 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)