Yesterday I arrived at the new International terminal as a passenger for the first time ever (typically I go through as air crew which is a completely different experience). All I can say is I don't know who the Calgary Airport has working for them but they obviously have zero idea on how humans behave and haven't bothered to take 5 minutes to stand and observe passengers arriving in the customs hall during a busy international arrival period. A few observations....
- Passengers connecting on to other flights are greeted by a giant purple wall and purple signs that say "Connections" and direct them to the appropriate lines in the custom hall. It works great. The problem is behind this is a small sign that says "Calgary" that gets completely lost because people's attention is focussed on the big connections signs. The majority of people who actually had Calgary as their destination stood around looking lost until the airport's "Ambassadors" directed them to the line up (myself included and I've been through the new terminal multiple times before).
- Once in the "Calgary" line, people are directed into an area that holds the CBSA automated machines that scan your passport and issue you a receipt based on your declaration card. There are several problems with this area.
The first is that the machines face 'forward' toward the line of custom booths that are between this area and the baggage claim. People get their receipts and naturally move forward towards the booths as they know their final destination lays beyond. Unfortunately you can't actually move forward from this area. There is a railing between the automated machines and the custom booths. What I saw happen time and time again was that the thirty or so people who were using the machines walked forward, hit the railing, looked around confused then realized they had to do a 180 degree U-turn and walk back through the next thirty people who had stepped forward to use the machines to reach the start of the line to see a CBSA agent.
A small effort has been made to mitigate this by placing arrows along the railing to direct people back around to the beginning of the line for the custom booths but of course these signs are at waist-height which means that they are below the tops of the automated machines, out of the natural line of vision for most people and have absolutely zero context attached to them that might help guide people. This ties in with the second issue of the area.
The second problem I saw with the CBSA area was the fact that the use of the automated machines is new to a large number of people. Once people were issued their receipts, they would stand with them in hand and look around lost, unsure of what the next step in the process was. Thankfully most found a CAA airport ambassador to ask but it meant people were occupying a CBSA automated machine that could have been processing the next traveller while the first traveller was looking around for help. There is no signage explaining the process to travellers and that is a major short-coming.
The cheap and easy solution of course to all these problems is improved signage and slight tweaks to the lay-out of the room that would dramatically improve the experience and speed up the process. My suggestions would be:
- Increase the size of the 'Calgary' sign so that it becomes a focal point. I would also suggest adding an images of the Calgary skyline to the sign as well as an outline of a suitcase to help capture people's attention and convey the message that if you're going to the city or collecting your bag, that is the line that you're meant to be in.
- Introduce a '1-2-3' sign system to help walk travellers through their CBSA experience. I saw this system used successfully in my journey through Heathrow and it could easily be applied in Calgary. Place signs that show travellers all of the steps they need to complete to go through the process, number them so they can easily follow along and then place signs that show where they currently are in the process and direct them to the next step. I would suggest the following:
#1 - picture of an automated CBSA machine - 'Complete customs declaration'
#2 - picture of a CBSA officer at desk - 'Show officer declaration'
#3 - picture of suitcase - 'Collect checked luggage'
#4 - exit sign + declaration card - 'Show officer declaration on exit'
- Turn the automated CBSA machines 180 degrees so they face the back of the room, away from the custom booths and towards the entrance for the line up for travellers to see the CBSA agents. Extend the line up for the automated CBSA machines so that the 180 degree U-turn people are currently making when encountering the railing is made for them. This allows people to walk forward to a free machine, complete the declaration, look up, walk forward to the #2 sign and the beginning of the line for the CBSA agents... a natural path forward in the eyes of the traveller even though they're being turned around in the room.
- Place all signage so that it's at least 6 feet in height and not at waist-level so it is visible to everyone.
- And of course last but not least, fix the water fountain problem. At Heathrow I counted 3 "drinking water" stations that included giant "drinking water" signs next to them between getting off the airplane and reaching the customs/terminal connections hall. I know CAA says they're working on this but the initial oversight still drives me nuts.
Okay, rant over. That felt better.
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