This isn’t really relevent to government policy, but I was just wondering anyway:
I was at Disneyland today, and used fastpasses thrice throughout the day. This made me think about the economics of fastpasses. Since they allow you to wait for a ride without actually having the wait in line, this would leave people who buy them free to wait in line for other rides (you are only allowed one per hour). This would mean that you are essentially waiting in two lines at the same time. Since fastpass times are calculated based on how long the current line is, doesn’t the presence of fastpasses in the long term just make lines slightly longer? Are they any flaws in my analysis?
Well, I’d think it would result in more overall waiting.
It allows more people to ride more rides, and with limited rides, that means more waiting. If everyone used fastpasses, there would be no net difference.
I could be wrong about that, though.
The price of the fast passes would have to be high enough that the majority of people wouldn’t use them.
Fastpasses are free, but can only be used once per hour.
Which means almost everyone must use one. Which, as far as I can imagine, results in a zero-sum at the macro level. However, it does provide greater individual utility because of the greater control each person has over where his investment (time waiting in line) pays off.