When you attend a soccer game, use a train station, or visit an amusement park, you will most likely have to use a turnstile. While in the modern era their main job is to limit entry to one person at a time, the original purpose of such gates was to allow people to move from one field to another, while keeping their livestock locked up.
The origins of turnstiles
Clarence Saunders, who founded the Piggly Wiggly supermarket chain in the early 1900s, is credited with being the first to install turnstile gates in his stores to help avoid overcrowding and mass hysteria, as shoppers they flocked to the world’s first supermarket.
The technique soon became popular as a means of limiting and controlling entry and exit, and before long it was being used in places that were home to large crowds. The first recording of the turnstiles that were first used in a UK sports venue was at the original Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow. They were also installed in 1915 at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, to help control the summer crowds.
Why would you use turnstiles as an access control system?
While primarily used for crowd control, a turnstile gate can be used for a variety of other purposes:
-
Restrict pedestrian access to a place
-
To create rate doors (entry through paid access)
-
Increased security
-
Monitoring the number of people entering or leaving a place.
-
Prevent access or exit in emergency situations
What are the different types of turnstile gates?
Turnstiles can be more beneficial to your organization if they are integrated with other security systems such as CCTV, intercoms, and barriers. There are several types of turnstiles that are best suited for different purposes, such as crowd control, controlled admission to a venue, or to provide security.
Swing door – They can be used for one-way or multi-directional access, allowing both entry and exit through the same door. Swing gates are not as secure as other designs, but can still be used to successfully restrict entry to areas. They can include manual or automatic controls.
Drop arm – These turnstile gates have three arms, which rotate when the user enters. They are normally operated with a coin, ticket or card. They can also be activated remotely using the release button. The main problem with these types of barriers is that it is relatively easy for people to jump over them.
Full height turnstiles – These turnstiles act as a revolving door and reach a height of about 2 meters. This height makes it impossible for someone to jump the barrier, which makes it popular in soccer stadiums and other sports fields around the world. Operated by various methods such as card reader, via scanner or manually, these doors offer the best secure entry system.
The benefits of turnstile gates
Turnstile installation provides a variety of benefits, not only increasing pedestrian safety by decreasing entry speed and overcrowding in reception areas and platforms, but also providing a vital means of assisting security checks before to enter secure areas, such as a courtroom or airport. They also provide a way to ensure that no revenue is lost when used to validate the ticket payment.