BART rolling out quicker fare gates to cut down on fare evasion

Facing a huge financial deficit, BART is doing everything it can to maximize revenues.  That's what the new fare evasion gates are all about, and now, changes are being made to the system to cut down on something called "piggybacking."

"Tailgating and piggybacking have happened at BART for all of its history," said BART PIO Alicia Trost. "Even with the old fare gates, people would still sneak in behind you."

That's costly to BART and unnerving to the customers, so Trost said they've been working on what seems like an obvious solution.

"It's just the door speed, right?  Let's just have the doors close and open faster," she said.  "So, they're going from 800 milliseconds to 500 milliseconds."

That's less than a third of a second faster, but BART is hoping it will be enough to make it uncomfortable to tag along on a fare. The new timing is being tested at gates in the Concord and Antioch stations, and while it's a little hard to notice the difference, rider Michael Kennedy said he has noticed the effect the new gates are having.

"People can't just shimmy out anymore," he said. "You've got to catch them slipping in or catch the gate open. That's the only time I really saw people slide through."

Kennedy admits he used to sneak in as a kid, "I was a kid, though, you know?  When you grow up, you've got to, you know, not go to jail." But he's also a realist about making sure people pay for their rides.

"I've always seen the benefits, and I've always seen the need for it," he said. "Whether it benefited my personal plan at the moment or not, was up to question. But I've always seen the pros and cons of it, per the establishment."

As part of that "establishment," Trost said they have also shortened the width of the floor sensors and switched off an AI camera that was keeping the door open longer after a person had passed through. That may all sound like nitpicking, but Trost said the impact has been astounding. They figure BART is gaining about $10 million per year because of the fare gates.  And she said it goes far beyond just the revenues.

"Just putting in these fare gates that make it harder to go in without paying has made the whole system literally better. Customer satisfaction: up. Ridership: up. Crime: down. Vandalism: down. Even things like sexual harassment, we're seeing plummet. And all if it is tied to the date the fare gates went in. It's quite remarkable. And the story's still unfolding. Like, we're still realizing the full benefits from it," Trost said.

Kennedy said he wasn't surprised. Still, he knows that whatever BART comes up with, it will never be easy having to deal with the public.

"I feel like society as a whole is, like, anything having to do with the public is a problem," he said. "It's always a problem, always a friggin' problem."

The changes do not require any new equipment, just software changes to the existing gates. Trost said the pilot program in Concord and Antioch has been successful, so they will begin making the switch at all the other stations, as well. They think it may take a few weeks to do that.