MTA to test new fare gates at 20 subway stations this fall
Fare evaders at certain subway stations will soon encounter new gates designed to stop turnstile hopping. This fall, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will begin testing four modern gates at 20 stations across New York City, featuring elements that make it much harder for commuters to jump over. The gates are part of the agency’s broader effort to curb fare evasion across the public transit system, a metric that has dropped by 30 percent on the subway from the second quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025, according to the MTA.
The gates will utilize “cutting-edge” technology and are designed to improve fare compliance while making the system more accessible and user-friendly, MTA President of Construction & Development Jamie Torres-Springer said during Monday’s MTA Joint Committee Meeting.
The MTA has already shortlisted Conduent, Cubic, Scheidt & Bachmann, and STraffic to supply the new fare gates. Later this fall, the agency will begin testing their designs, installing each vendor’s gates at five stations for a total of 20 locations, including:
- Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center
- 14th Street-Union Square
- 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal
- Delancey Street-Essex Street
- Nostrand Avenue
- Crown Heights-Utica Avenue
- Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue
- Forest Hills-71 Avenue
The new gates will be funded through $1.1 billion set aside in the MTA’s 2025–2029 capital plan, which is still awaiting approval. Following the initial testing phase, the transit agency plans to install modern fare gates at 150 subway stations over the five-year period.
Similar fare gates have already proven effective in other public transit systems, and while the proposed gates may appear familiar, NYC’s version would feature “major technology upgrades in all cases,” Torres-Springer said.
The gates share baseline features: wide-aisle gates to replace the emergency doors and standard gates to replace the traditional turnstiles. Most designs use paddles that are difficult to force open, hold open, or climb over, alongside advanced sensor detection and machine-learning technology that ensures only paying passengers are granted access.
These new gates are part of the MTA’s broader initiative to curb fare evasion across both the subway and bus systems. The issue of fare evasion has become especially prominent in recent months, as the Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding for the city’s public transit system unless the MTA submits a comprehensive plan to address fare evasion, along with other transit-related concerns.
They will also feature a “backend” system that allows the MTA to fine-tune the settings, ensuring a fair balance between accessibility and preventing fare evasion.
The agency has already implemented turnstile modifications, including delayed egress on emergency exits and the deployment of fare guards. Ninety percent of all turnstiles have also been upgraded to prevent “back-cocking,” when riders pull a turnstile back just enough to squeeze through.
At stations with gates featuring delayed egress, fare evasion dropped by 10 percent. The MTA plans to expand this feature to 150 stations by the end of the year, according to the agency. The MTA has also installed turnstile sleeves and fins at select stations, which have already seen a 60 percent decrease in turnstile jumping.
In January, MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber revealed that subway fare evasion had decreased from 14 to 10 percent over the previous six months. Lieber also reported a 12 percent drop in bus fare evasion, from approximately 50 to 44 percent, marking the first significant progress the transit agency has made in reducing these metrics.
“For the last two years, we’ve been attacking fare and toll evasion from all angles – hardening the system against fare beaters, simplifying fare payment, raising awareness about discounted fares and, yes, doing more enforcement,” Lieber said.
“Now those efforts are yielding positive results that will grow even more with the new modern fare gates that are coming.”
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