Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) recently completed the installation of 715 new fare gates at its 50 stations, four months ahead of schedule. The gates feature a door locking mechanism that makes their swing barriers difficult to push through, jump over, or maneuver under.
“This is the latest in a string of victories for riders that are transforming the daily BART experience,” BART General Manager Bob Powers said. “Since last year we have boosted our visible safety presence in the system, increased cleaning, gone to running only Fleet of the Future trains, became the first transit agency in the Bay Area to offer riders Tap and Ride, and now we have installed state-of-the-art fare gates that are already deterring unwanted behavior. Our riders say they want a system that is safe, clean, and user friendly, and we are responding with decisive actions.”
Future work will involve the utilization of advanced sensors to make it more difficult for those who want to “piggyback” into the system by closely following behind paying riders.
During the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, 22 percent of riders said they witnessed someone evading a fare. According to the agency’s latest Quarterly Performance Report, this dropped to 10 percent.