Abstract: A system for regulating access to a resource by a plurality of users, comprises: a plurality of portable access keys, each being provided to one of the plurality of users and having an eligibility level associated therewith; a standard access queue allowing access to the resource by all users at a standard access rate; a premium access barrier allowing access to the resource at a premium access rate for users in a premium access queue, separate from the standard access queue; and a queue manager for managing the premium access queue by receiving a request from a user wishing to access the resource via the premium access queue, allowing the user to access the resource via the premium access barrier if the eligibility level associated with the user's portable access key meets an eligibility threshold, determining an access queue characteristic and setting the eligibility threshold based on the determined access queue characteristic.