Queue areas are places in which people queue (first-come, first-served) for goods or services.[1] Examples include checking out 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, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.
Queueing[2] 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.
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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, so there has to be some control over additional guests who are waiting. This led 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 a climate-controlled building or with fans and misting devices.
In some amusement parks - Disney Parks being a prime example - queue areas can be elaborately decorated, with holding areas fostering anticipation, thus shortening the perceived wait for people in the queue by giving them something interesting to look at as they wait, or the perception that they have arrived at the threshold of the attraction.
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; a person leaves the line each time a service point opens up. This is a common setup in banks and post offices.
Physical queueing is sometimes replaced by 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 doctors' offices, hospitals, town halls, social security offices, labor exchanges, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Immigration, free internet access in the state or council libraries, banks or post offices and Call Centres. 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 on arrival.
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 DMVs,[3] colleges, restaurants,[4] healthcare institutions,[5] government offices[4] and elsewhere have begun to be replaced by mobile queues or queue-ahead, whereby the person queueing uses his/her phone, the internet, a kiosk or another method to enter a virtual queue, optionally prior to arrival, is free to roam during the wait, and then gets paged at his/her mobile phone when his/her turn approaches. This has the advantage of allowing users to find out the wait forecast and get in the queue before arriving, roaming freely and then timing their arrival to the availability of service. This has been shown to extend the patience of those in the queue and reduce no-shows.[4] Mobile queueing is more environmentally friendly than application-specific pagers, which require special-purpose batteries and hardware, and healthier from a public health perspective, as there is no shared device changing hands.
Since queueing can be a boring and time-consuming activity, but one that may also have high stakes (e.g. attempting to purchase a good or product with a limited availability, such as a concert ticket), people can become angry when the unwritten rules of queueing are broken.
For example, in Britain it is unacceptable to queue-jump (to push in, skip, or cut in line), although it is 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 the United States, the above example from Britain (second member of a party) would also generally be accepted. It is acceptable for waiting persons to leave the queue briefly (to use the bathroom, etc.) and return to their original place, without having to ask neighbours to hold their place or to be allowed to return (however, many individuals would still tell their neighbours in the queue). It is also common to allow others to jump to the front of the queue in a train station to buy a ticket if their train is about to leave and if waiting from the back of the queue would cause them to miss their train. In supermarkets or restaurants, sometimes a person may be allowed to advance ahead in the queue if a person has a predetermined or basic order. This is based on courtesy of the queue members.
When designing queues, planners attempt to make the wait as pleasant and as simple as possible. They employ several strategies to achieve this, including:
Before implementing a virtual queue, some thought should be given to the availability of substitutes. A substitute, in this context, is an alternative activity the queuer can participate in rather than standing in line. Ideally the substitute activity should be aligned with the objectives of both the queuer and the organisation where the queue forms. Providing a substitute activity for the queuer can be an effective approach for reducing perceived waiting time.
In a busy restaurant, a good substitute for a waiting customer would be a bar. At an outdoor attraction with long queues, a good substitute might be a side marquee selling merchandise or food.
A good substitute will:
Providing a well thought through substitute activity that complements the main product or service being queued for, can provide an organisation with a valuable customer service advantage.[6]
Sometimes, often at amusement parks, there will be a modifiable sign at the start of the queue or halfway point in the queue informing people approximately how long their wait will be.