High-tech doors. Spikes. Now, half moons are the latest in fare-beating infrastructure that the MTA has installed into the NYC subway system.
Less than a month after the agency added spiked barriers in between turnstiles at the Lexington Avenue-59th Street subway station, the state-run MTA is now trying another gadget to get commuters to pay their fare.
Metal half-moon shields are now on turnstiles at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall/Chambers Street subway station, home to the 4, 5, 6, and J/Z trains. The point of the crescent-shaped extenders is to deter fare evaders from holding on to the turnstile as they jump over it.
But during amNewYork Metro’s visit to the busy Lower Manhattan station on Feb. 16, a photographer observed several public transit users jumping the barriers with relative ease, similar to how they breached the spiked turnstiles in January.
The MTA reports that fare evasion is at a “crisis level. ” The agency projected that in 2024, fare evasion on the subway will be $360 million, and overall, that number will be $700 million.
It is unclear right now how much money the new barriers are saving the MTA, but an agency spokesperson told amNewYork Metro that they’ll evaluate the barriers based on their impact on jumping.
The MTA constantly battles fare evasion and has multiple initiatives in place to fix the problem. In 2023, the agency unveiled a fareway with middle-out doors and wheelchair-accessible entry, and in May 2024, it announced a fare-evading prevention pilot packed with initiatives, including spiked and half-moon barriers, aimed at getting people to pay their fares.
“A truly, multifaceted approach is underway while we work on more long-term investments like replacing fare gates,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the many people who continue to beat the fare system, the MTA reported last month that the illegal act has actually decreased on the subways 26% from June 2024 to December of the same year. That may be due to the presence of additional officers into the subway system.
Additionally, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced during her State of the State address on Jan. 14 that she will accelerate the MTA’s efforts by investing in modern fare gates to be installed in more than 20 stations in 2025, as well as an additional 20 stations next year.
Meanwhile, straphangers both applauded the MTA’s efforts and said more needs to be done — namely, making sure cops are there to enforce the law.
“The MTA can do all of these helpful things to stop fare evasion, but everything is beaten very quickly,” one local commuter said. “The only thing that works is a uniformed police officer allowed to do their job.”
