Rokin Underground Station, Amsterdam
Waiting. Everybody does
it and spends much time on it. Therefore, it is surprising how little attention
it receives from social scientists and philosophers. I think that street
photographers pay more attention to this kind of action. For an action it is. Waiting
is not simply doing nothing, being inactive. Waiting has an intention. It is
doing nothing in view of something else, and this having an intention makes it
an action.
Waiting has philosophical, sociological and psychological aspects. The
philosophical aspects concern, for instance, the meaning of waiting and its
place in life. The sociological aspects concern, for instance, waiting in a group
and waiting in public. The psychological aspects concern how we experience it.
Although I am mainly interested in the philosophical and sociological aspects
of waiting, and then especially those of waiting in public, I don’t want to
ignore the psychology of waiting, also because it influences how “managers” of
public spaces organise public areas, and then in the first place, of course,
those places made for waiting, like bus stops or platforms in railway stations;
and it is the same for managers of semi-public spaces like hospital waiting
rooms, the foyers of theatres or sports stadiums. In this blog, I’ll investigate
how managers of public space and semi-public spaces, use or can use these psychological
aspects for the organisation of waiting spaces. My analysis is based on an
article by David H. Maister about the management of waiting in restaurants.
1 – Unoccupied Time Feels Longer than Occupied Time. In semi-public
waiting rooms (like a doctor’s waiting room), you often find magazines and
other lecture that can be used by the waiting people. However, many waiting
people are self-managers and shorten their psychological waiting time with their
smartphones or by reading stuff they have taken with them. That’s why many
railway stations have bookshops. Music can also reduce the psychological
waiting time, for instance in sports stadiums before the match (in addition, it
puts the spectators in the mood).
2 – Pre- and Post-process Waits Feel Longer than In-process Waits. Waiting
feels less onerous when you are already involved in the process you are waiting
for, even in case it increases the overall waiting time. So, when entering a
hospital, often you are directly asked to fill in a form, which gives the
feeling of being “in-process” and reduces the sense of waiting. When you sit in
a moving train for half an hour time seems to go faster than when you wait half
an hour on the platform, till the train arrives. Then the train suddenly stops
for an unknown reason. The process of the waiting-in-progress stops then as
well and a minute of waiting suddenly feels like an hour of moving, so to speak.
To reduce the psychological waiting time, modern trains and buses have screens
with travel information, such as speed and time to the next station. Sometimes
the driver tells you what is going on when an unplanned stop happens.
3 – Anxiety Makes Waits Seem Longer. You are in vain waiting for your
train. Then you are informed that an accident has happened. Even if the length of
the delay is unknown, information may help. When there are roadworks on a
motorway sometimes the length of the works is indicated.
4 – Uncertain Waits are Longer than Known, Finite Waits. Trains and
buses are often delayed for unimportant reasons. It should be the norm that
such delays always be indicated on information panels.
5 – Unexplained Waits are Longer than Explained Waits. Many motorways
have information panels that inform the drivers about traffic jams or
slow-moving traffic caused by accidents or roadworks. Train passengers are
informed about accidents or technical problems. Or – a semi-public event – sometimes
it happens that an opera singer suddenly has become ill and a substitute has
not yet arrived in the theatre. So the performance will start somewhat later.
Then the public is informed of the problem (also because the cast has changed).
6 – Unfair Waits are Longer than Equitable Waits. In a queue it
sometimes happens that someone goes out of turn. Or you don’t know when it is
your turn. For semi-public waits, there is an easy solution: Give numbered
tickets to waiting people, so that they can be served in order of arrival. In
public spaces, this is often difficult or impossible to realise. Lines on the
ground indicating where to wait or cords guiding the queues can help, but much
depends also on the discipline of the waiting people.
7 – People Will Wait Longer for More Valuable Services. Public space
managers can make waiting more comfortable, for example by placing benches, or by
simple covered waiting spaces that protect against the weather; or they can
even place there a drinks machine and the like.
8 – Waiting Alone Feels Longer than Waiting in Groups. Public space
managers cannot do much about this problem.
9 – Physically Uncomfortable Waiting Feels Longer. Waiting rooms, bus
shelters, benches, good lightning at dark places in the evening, etc will help.
See also point 7.
10 – Waits Seem Longer to New or Occasional Users. Public space managers
can provide as much information as possible to customers, travellers, etc. and
describe the process they are waiting for in detail. Think of informative
websites, information panels, and oral messages via a public address system.
Waiting in public can happen everywhere. In fact, waiting is part of the stream
of life and doesn’t stand out. Usually it is a routine action. Indeed, usually
it is an action. Waiting implies many decisions, like where and how to wait and
what to do while waiting. Waiting is often boring and stressful, as the ten
psychological characteristics of waiting show. A public space manager can do
something about this. If this is done well, time will fly, even if the wait is
long.
