MTA says new subway gates are working, plans to add more to deter fare-beaters

It will soon be a little harder for subway fare-beaters, as Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA leaders on Wednesday rolled out plans to replace old turnstiles with fare gates that are more difficult to leap over or crawl under.

After seeing fare evasion fall by an average of 35% at the 20 stations where the new gates were being tested, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it will expand the pilot program to 20 more stations by the end of the year, including six in Manhattan, six in Brooklyn and four each in the Bronx and Queens.

The gates are being funded through a $1.1 billion appropriation in the MTA’s five-year, $68 billion capital budget. Hochul said that over time the new gates "will literally pay for themselves" by saving the MTA hundreds of millions of dollars in fares that would otherwise be lost.

"Every time a fare-beater steals a ride, they’re stealing money meant for our trains and our buses to keep them moving," Hochul said. "Who foots the bill for the missing revenue? The taxpayers, riders who do the right thing, riders who do pay their fair share. And that’s just wrong."

Late last year, the MTA began testing three different types of fare gates, designed by different firms looking to win the contract for all 472 subway stations. The new gates are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers and feature tall doors that open with the tap of a phone or fare card.

Hochul stepped through one of the new gates while arriving at the news conference to make the announcement at a Maspeth MTA facility, but struggled for nearly 30 seconds, using various cards, to get the gate to open. "After today that will never happen again," she told reporters.

The MTA has in recent years sought to crack down on fare evasion, which it says costs the transit agency about $800 million a year. Even before testing the new gates, the MTA increased security patrols in stations and installed technology to address instances of fare-beaters entering through activated emergency doors.

The measures have helped the MTA knock down subway fare evasion by about 30%, according to MTA chairman Janno Lieber, who said fare-beating peaked after the COVID pandemic.

"We ... had to address that sense of disorder which, like it or not, has a real impact on the way people feel about our system, and it starts at the fare gate," Lieber said.

MTA officials said 70 stations will be outfitted with the new gates by the end of 2027, with the goal of eventually having them in place across the entire subway system.

Lieber noted that, to ensure fare evasion is "never, hopefully, a crime of poverty," the MTA has also worked with New York City officials to expand eligibility guidelines for discounted fares and to allow students to ride for free all year long.

Lisa Daglian, executive director of the MTA Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, a transit rider advocacy group, said in a statement that the new fare gates "represent progress — against fare evasion, in support of accessibility, and to modernize stations."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.