Why switching queues can get you nowhere fast

Switching queues to save yourself time will most likely have the opposite effect, researchers at Harvard Business School have found.

People in a particular spot in a queue are four times more likely to leave if no one is behind them and twice as likely to go to another line, their study found. This is despite them typically waiting longer to be served.

“The number of people behind you has nothing to do with how long you are going to wait, but it shapes our behaviour,” said Ryan W Buell, an expert in service management.