Turnstyles
TicketingHub's cloud based booking software integrates with your existing turnstyles! Scan the tickets automatically at the gate and let customer through.
The entrance is where every operational promise gets tested. However smooth your online booking is, if guests then queue while staff squint at phone screens, the first impression suffers — and on peak days the gate becomes your bottleneck and your biggest staffing bill. Connecting your turnstiles to TicketingHub turns entry into self-service: guests scan their own tickets, valid tickets release the gate, and every scan is recorded against the booking.
What turnstile access control does
A turnstile admits one person per valid ticket — no more, no less. Stadiums, theme parks, museums, and transport hubs use them because they combine three things a staffed door struggles with at scale: throughput, accurate counting, and enforcement. The missing piece is the connection between the physical gate and your booking system, so the turnstile knows which tickets are genuinely valid right now. That's the piece TicketingHub provides.
How TicketingHub connects to your turnstiles
TicketingHub integrates with any type of turnstile, so there's no need to replace the gates you already own. A compact scanner extension — built on a Raspberry Pi — plugs into your existing turnstile hardware. Guests present their ticket's QR code, printed or on a phone screen; the scanner checks it against the live booking record in TicketingHub, and a valid ticket releases the gate.
Validation is the same logic used everywhere else in TicketingHub. A usable ticket admits the guest and records the scan; a ticket that has already used its permitted scans is rejected, so a screenshot forwarded to a friend won't open the gate twice. Tickets deliberately configured for multiple entries — season passes, re-entry days — scan as many times as you've allowed. Every scan updates the manifest, so your team sees live attendance from the dashboard.
And because online, box-office, and reseller sales all live in one system, the gate accepts every legitimate ticket regardless of where it was bought.
Entry data you can act on
Self-scanning doesn't just move people faster — it measures them. Every scan lands on the booking's manifest the moment it happens, which gives you a live picture of attendance: how many ticket holders are inside, how arrivals are pacing against capacity, and which bookings never showed. For venues that plan staffing, catering, or safety thresholds around footfall, that's data a clicker-counter at a staffed door was never going to give you accurately.
Stadiums, arenas, and event venues
When thousands arrive in the half hour before kick-off, per-lane throughput decides everything. Self-scan turnstiles process guests in parallel and free your stewards to handle exceptions rather than every single ticket — while duplicate-scan rejection quietly shuts down ticket sharing at the gate.
Attractions with timed entry
Museums, towers, and exhibitions selling timed slots can let the gates do the timekeeping: each ticket is tied to its booking, so entry validates against what was actually sold. Guests flow through without staff cross-checking times, and the live scan count shows exactly how full the venue is right now.
Leaner staffing on peak days
Game days, holiday weekends, and festival dates usually mean hiring extra ticket takers for a few peak hours. Self-scanning removes most of that: one supervisor can oversee a bank of turnstiles, and your budget goes to guest experience instead of queue management. The saving compounds — it's not one shift but every peak day of every season.
What you'll need
- Your existing turnstiles — any type; the integration doesn't require replacing them
- TicketingHub's Raspberry Pi-based scanner extension fitted at each lane
- Internet connectivity at the gate, since tickets validate live against the booking system
- Optionally, staff with the TicketingHub Outpost app for a staffed lane, accessibility entrance, or exceptions desk — it scans the very same tickets
Turnstile projects are planned with you rather than switched on from a menu: contact TicketingHub support or your account manager and we'll scope the installation for your gates and layout.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to replace my existing turnstiles?
No. TicketingHub integrates with any type of turnstile — the Raspberry Pi scanner extension is added to your current setup, which keeps the project small and the gates you've already paid for in service.
What stops someone reusing a ticket that's already been scanned?
The live booking record. Once a ticket has used its permitted scans it validates as already scanned and the gate stays shut — unless you've deliberately configured that ticket for multiple entries.
Can guests use tickets on their phones?
Yes — the scanner reads QR codes from screens or paper. Guests bring whichever they prefer; both validate against the same booking.
What about guests who bought through a reseller or at the box office?
Their tickets work identically. Every sales channel feeds the same booking system, so the gate doesn't care where the ticket was purchased.
Can I mix turnstiles with staffed entry?
Absolutely — many venues run self-scan lanes for the crowd and a staffed lane with the Outpost scanning app for groups, accessibility needs, or problem tickets. Both record scans to the same manifest.
Does the gate need an internet connection?
Yes — validation happens live against your bookings, which is what makes duplicate rejection and live attendance counts possible, so plan reliable connectivity at the entrance.
Book a demo and we'll talk through how self-scanning entry would work at your venue's gates.
