Want optical or regular turnstiles for your building?
This would fall into the post-9/11 commerce boom and did you know? random facts category! According to a New York Times story, the use and acceptance of turnstiles in US is finally catching up to the rest of the world that has already been dealing with terrorism for a while. According to one maker of turnstiles, business is up 150% since 9/11 with sales really picking up since February.
The new turnstiles, called optical stiles, read ID cards and come with or without barrier arms. They cost about $30,000, compared with about $2,000 for the basic rotating tripod — the kind once used in New York subways.
...The optical stiles use sensors to ensure that only one person enters for each ID card presented. They allow up to 30 people to pass through in a minute, compared with 35 to 40 for the traditional tripod turnstile.
"Before 9/11, most people were shopping for the lower-end models," Mr. Lamson said. "Now we have several multimillion-dollar deals pending."
Perey, a leading turnstile maker, has been at it since 1913, selling its products to places like Disney World, New York City and the Pentagon. "I believe that the significant increase in sales will really come in the next two to three years," said Mr. Hendrickson, who estimated that the industry was now only a $100 million market worldwide. "Turnstiles are not impulse buys. It takes a while to come up with new security plans or architectural designs."
Mr. Hendrickson said 16 companies worldwide made turnstiles and estimated that 25,000 turnstiles — including optical stiles — were installed in the last year. Perey's sales, he said, are up 45 percent from this time last year.