Airport queue

An airport queue is a dispatch zone that holds a line of taxis. A unit that drives into the zone joins at the back. A unit that leaves the zone drops out. The dispatcher can add, move or remove a unit by hand and send the first unit in line.

Before you start #

• Draw the airport lot as a dispatch zone first (see dispatch-zones).
• The owner or a manager sets up the queue. Dispatchers run it.
• Taxi is part of the Pro and Business editions.

Steps on the web console #

1. Open Taxi, then Airport line. The page lists each line with its zone and "Zone: ... A unit that leaves the zone keeps its place for ... seconds."
2. Read the table: Place, Driver, Joined, How it joined (Position or By hand), Note and Actions. A unit that left the zone shows "Outside the zone since ...". The count above the table reads "... waiting"; an empty line says "Nobody is waiting."
3. Select Send the first unit to dispatch the unit at the front. The line renews on its own every few seconds.
4. To add a unit by hand, fill in Add a unit by hand: choose a driver on shift, choose Place in line (Back of the line or Front of the line), type a Reason of at least three characters and select Add.
5. To remove a unit, open Remove on its row, type the reason and select Remove from the line.
6. Owners and managers see Line settings: change the Name, the Seconds outside the zone before leaving (0 to 3600) and tick or untick Active, then select Save.
7. To make a new line, owners and managers use Make an airport line: choose a Zone, give an optional Name and select Add. The form lists only zones that have no line yet.

Steps on the Mac #

1. Make the queue from the zone. Choose its name and a grace period in seconds (the default is 120).
2. Drivers send their positions as usual. The first position inside the zone puts the unit at the back of the line.
3. A position outside the zone starts the grace period. If the unit is back inside before it ends, it keeps its place. If it stays out longer, it leaves the queue.
4. Read the line: position, driver, when they joined, and whether they joined by GPS or by hand.
5. To change the line yourself, choose add or remove, pick the driver, say front or back, and type the reason. Adding a driver who is already in the line moves them.
6. To send a unit, send the first one in line. It leaves the queue as dispatched.

If something goes wrong #

• "Enter the reason for the change": a manual change needs at least three characters of reason.
• "That zone already has a queue": each zone makes one queue.
• A unit never joins: check the zone is switched on and the position is inside its outline.