Know the Wait at State

Posted by Lines | @lines_psu

All your life you wait to turn 21 so you can finally get into bars, but the one thing they don’t tell you about is that you also have to wait in line at the bars. Now waiting a few minutes in line might not be so bad, but winter is here and a few minutes can feel like a few hours in temperatures below 40 degrees at night.

Mark Esher-Hagel and Courtney Spencer are Philadelphia natives and the two cofounders of Lines PSU, a free app that is designed to tell users the wait time at any bar of their choice. Though they both have had experience working with technology and design, this is their first app. They’ve been working for one year on developing a completely unique and technical app using geo-fencing technology, a virtual barrier, to calculate accurate wait times from the front of lines to the back without manually uploading information.

Mark and Courtney came up with the idea for this app based on their own experiences that they and everyone else has had with waiting in line to get into bars. They both have siblings at Penn State and frequently visit.

“We love the Penn State community and feel very close to it, and we recognize the problems that students have to deal with especially on game days with getting into bars,” they said.

They have been working with Penn State students acting as a team of interns, brand ambassadors and student liaisons. Their two student partners, Max Dubyk and Josh Ellwood, have been working closely with them to help launch, connect, and gain more insight.

The design is set up in such a way that the bars and wait times are all available for interaction on a user-friendly map. All that’s required of users is downloading the app, and in seconds you have wait times all over State College at your fingertips.

As time goes on, Mark and Courtney hope to develop the app by eventually expanding to other venues to give wait times at places such as Starbucks, Chipotle, and even THON. After the launch at Penn State, they plan to bring the app to Philadelphia.

Mark says, “We recognize the importance of peoples’ time and we want to help people make the most of their free time and to have a good night out.”

Follow @lines_psu on Instagram for communication, announcements, giveaways, and information regarding the app.