Turnstiles The
New York City Subway has four basic types of fare control equipment: low
turnstiles (including agent-operated special entry turnstiles, SETs), high entrance-exit turnstiles (HEETs), high exit turnstiles (HXTs), and gates (including emergency exit gates (EXG), agent-operated gates (AOG), and Autonomous Farecard Access System (AFAS) gates for wheelchair access). Passengers enter the subway by swiping or tapping farecards to unlock the turnstiles. Typical control areas feature low turnstiles, one or more EXGs, and a token booth. Unstaffed entrances that were remodeled before the late 2000s featured only HEETs and EXGs. Exit-only locations have only HXTs and EXGs. All control areas must have at least one EXG, as per State emergency regulations. Systemwide EXG installations since 2006 introduced a weakness into otherwise secure AFC systems. Gates were originally only unlocked via booths' buzzers or employees' keys. After
London Underground's
2005 terrorism attacks, fire codes required "
panic bars", allowing each gate to be opened from the paid side, expediting emergency evacuation. While a loud, piercing, and warbling alarm sounds whenever EXGs are opened, general public took to using gates for exiting (substantially reducing queues), especially at unstaffed locations. It happened so often that, in January 2015, the MTA silenced all exit alarms. In an attempt to reduce fare evasion, in May 2023, the MTA exhibited several designs for half-height and full-height Plexiglas turnstiles, which would replace the SETs. In early 2024, to discourage fare evasion, the MTA reconfigured emergency exits at three stations so the exits opened only after a 15-second delay. The MTA also allocated $1 billion in its 2025–2029 Capital Program to install new faregates at selected stations to deter fare evasion. Per MTA fare tariff, exceptions to normal turnstile operations abound. Children under (turnstile machines' top height) must crawl under when entering with fare-paying adults (not permissible when travelling alone). Those with bulk items (bicycles, strollers, packages) must request
station agent witness their swiping
farecard, rotating turnstile without entering, then enter through an AOG with their items. Passengers with paper half-fare or "block" tickets must relinquish them to the agent and enter through a SET. School groups traveling with authorization letters may be admitted through an AOG. An added complication is several unofficial system entry methods resulting in no revenue loss but forbidden by tariff are frequently practiced. At unstaffed locations, fellow passengers often open EXGs for entry by customers with bulk packages after witnessing them rotate turnstiles without entering. Children often squeeze through HEETs with paying adults (if under 44", no revenue loss occurs). At token booths, agents often admit passengers through an AOG or SET for operational reasons. Police in uniform, construction workers, contractors in safety vests, employees, and concession vendors often enter with keys or agent's permission. Police officers or station agents sometimes allow student groups to enter through gates.
History New York City's transit system in the 1970s was in disarray. Subway ridership was declining, while private express buses mushroomed, exacerbating Transit Authority's (TA) problems. Crime was rampant; derailments, fires, breakdowns, and assaults were commonplace. Trains and stations were covered in graffiti. Passengers were actually afraid to ride the subway. To attract passengers, TA even introduced a premium fare "
Train to the Plane"—staffed by a
transit police officer at all times. Comparatively, fare evasion seemed a small problem. However, fare evasion was causing the TA to lose revenue. The TA's strategy for restoring riders' confidence took a two-pronged approach. In 1981, MTA's first capital program started system's physical restoration to a State-of-Good-Repair. Improving the TA's image in riders' minds was as important as overcoming deferred maintenance. Prompt removal of graffiti and prevention of blatant fare evasion would become central pillars of the strategy to assure customers that the subway is "fast, clean, and safe". The last graffiti came off the subway cars in 1989. Similarly, fare evasion was taken seriously. The TA began formally measuring evasion in November 1988. When TA's Fare Abuse Task Force (FATF) was convened in January 1989, evasion was 3.9%. After a 15-cent fare increase to $1.15 in August 1990, a record 231,937 people per day, or 6.9%, did not pay. This continued through 1991. To combat the mounting problem, FATF designated 305 "target stations", with the most evaders, for intensive enforcement and monitoring. Teams of uniformed and undercover police officers randomly conducted "mini-sweeps", swarming and arresting groups of evaders. Special "mobile booking centers" in converted citybuses allowed fast-track offender processing. Fare abuse agents covered turnstiles in shifts and issued citations. Plainclothes surveyors collected data for five hours per week at target locations, predominantly during morning peak hours. Finally, in 1992, evasion began to show a steady and remarkable decline, dropping to about 2.7% in 1994. The dramatic decrease in evasion during this period coincided with a reinvigorated Transit Police, a 25% expansion of the NYPD police, and a general drop in crime in U.S. cities. In the city, crime rate decline begun in 1991 under Mayor
David Dinkins and continued through next two decades under mayors
Rudolph Giuliani and
Michael Bloomberg. Some observers credited the "
broken windows" approach to law enforcement where minor crimes like evasion are routinely prosecuted, and statistical crimefighting tools, whereas others have indicated different reasons for crime reduction. Regardless of causality, evasion checks resulted in many arrests for outstanding warrants or weapons charges, likely contributing somewhat to public safety improvements. Arrests were not the only way to combat evasions, and by the early 1990s NYCTA was examining methods to improve fare control passenger throughputs, reduce fare collection costs, and maintain control over evasions and general crime. The AFC system was being designed, and evasion-preventing capability was a key consideration. TA's queuing studies concluded that purchasing tokens from clerks was not efficient. Preventing '
slug' use required sophisticated measures like tokens with metal-alloy centers and electronic
token verification devices. To provide better access control, the NYCTA experimented with floor-to-ceiling gates and "high-wheel" turnstiles. Prototypes installed as a "target hardening" trial at
110th Street/Lexington Avenue station reduced evasions compared to nearby "control" stations. However, controls consisting entirely of "high wheels" created draconian, prison-like environments, with detrimental effects on station aesthetics. Compromises with more secure low-turnstile designs were difficult, as AFC did not prevent fare evasion. Production
automated fare collection (AFC) implementation began on January 6, 1994. In response, Byford stated that the MTA was studying ways to physically prevent fare evaders from jumping over subways turnstiles, or entering the rear doors of buses where they did not need to pay. In the final quarter of 2023, the MTA reported 13 percent of subway riders and 45 percent of bus riders had fare evaded, up from 5 percent and 20.6 percent, respectively, in 2019.
Station agents The MTA had tried to reduce
station agent positions since full
MetroCard vending machine (MVM) deployment in 1997. Some thought the station destaffing plan would lead to potential evasion increases, and consequently more general crime. The original FATF (1988–1997) was reconvened in 2009 to review trends and coordinate mitigation strategies between MTA and
New York City Police Department (NYPD)'s Transit Bureau. Further confusing the issue, agents themselves historically provided evasion counts in their normal course of duty. A 2004 compromise converted low-volume booths to high-wheel, high-volume booths to part-time entrances called "kiosks" (51) staffed by Station Customer Assistants (SCAs). Affectionately called "burgundy jackets", SCAs do not sell farecards, instead they walk around solving customers' issues, including fare machine usage. Agents' presence in the stations is disputed. A civil suit concerning the 2005 sexual assault at the
21st Street and Jackson Avenue station, which occurred despite the alarm having been raised by the agent. However, an agent saved a life in
Cathedral Parkway–110th Street in 2010. The 2009 fiscal crisis necessitated more agent reductions, leaving only one 24-hour booth per station complex. Planned attrition program was converted to layoffs when fiscal situation deteriorated further in 2010. The only stations of the NYC subway which do not have 24-hour booths, although open 24/7, are the five stations of the
IRT Dyre Avenue Line ():
Eastchester-Dyre Avenue,
Baychester Avenue,
Gun Hill Road,
Pelham Parkway, and
Morris Park. These stations are staffed only 15 hours a day.
Prevention techniques Configuration In studies, gate evasion rate was found to be 1.5% unlocked, and only 0.8% when locked. Unlocked gates also invite more "questionable" entries; rate was 1.8% unlocked, but only 0.9% locked. Keeping gates locked potentially halves gate-related evasions. Following this finding, MTA reinstructed station supervisors and agents on importance and revenue impacts of keeping gates locked. Questionable gate entries decreased from 1.5% to 0.4% following this change, but illegal gate entries did not show statistically significant decrease when seasonality effects were accounted for. This measure seems to target mostly casual evasions. Originally fare control hardware and staff presence was thought to affect evasions. Unstaffed HEETs (with
emergency exits), a generally unsupervised environment, might invite rampant evasions. However, pilot studies indicated these locations had similar gate evasions (0.9%) to staffed locations (1.0%). At least in New York, agents do not seem to deter evaders. Unsupervised HEETs had similar turnstile evasions (1.2%) to staffed locations (1.0%). Unsupervised exit-only locations have lower gate evasions (0.6%) than elsewhere, suggesting evasion is a
crime of opportunity. Exit-only gates are only opened when trains arrive and passengers open them from the paid side; evaders likely find it more time-efficient to evade through entrances. Only the most determined evaders would wait at exit-only locations for others to exit, to enter.
Passenger height Passengers may be unaware of height guidelines determining when children must begin to pay, which were posted at booths that many customers no longer use. Prototype signs are being tested near turnstiles at the
Bowling Green station, and a sign also exists at the
81st Street–Museum of Natural History station.
Vandalism MVM
vandalism costs MTA both in lost revenues and repair expenses. MTA provides MVM vandalism intelligence to NYPD, which utilizes hidden portable wireless digital video cameras in "sting" operations to gather evidence against organized fare abuse rings and identify leaders. These "professional swipers" can be difficult to apprehend because they are very mobile and require strategic and determined law enforcement efforts to monitor MVM vandalism patterns, prioritizing stations with the highest vandalism rates. In years past,
theft-of-service crimes were often dismissed with time served (several days in
Riker's Island), but by working with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and Midtown Community Court, FATF achieved escalating sentences for recidivists. The coordinated efforts resulted in a five-swiper ring being disbanded and sentences of over one year being imposed. Measuring impacts of taking down fare abuse operations is difficult, because even large swiper rings 'sell' very few fares compared to natural day-to-day fluctuations of the eight million riders on NYC's system due to reasons like weather or special events.
Legal framework and enforcement The most important evasion fighting tool is arguably comprehensive and functioning
legal frameworks to deal with evaders and counterfeiters. MTA's Rule of Conduct (62) has banned evasions since the 1980s, rules having been established mainly for arresting persons likely to commit other crimes (assault,
graffiti). With appropriate legal framework, like traffic stops, evasion checks can be effective in identifying and arresting criminals wanted on outstanding warrants. To round-up evaders, MTA fare inspectors continue to use the "surge" strategy first developed by Transit police. Renewed enforcement interests led to several high-profile cases. Swiss tourists with allegedly valid passes were ticketed for bumping turnstiles. One passenger was arrested for exiting through an emergency gate, even though he was not evading a fare. Legal framework is more than prohibition of illegal acts and prescription of fines. Complete regulations should address issues like: arrests versus summonses; arresting/summons issuing powers; whether undercover enforcement is permitted; disputes/appeals process (e.g. "my monthly MetroCard isn't working, so I went through the gate"); dealing with genuinely confused tourists (e.g. "I flashed my pass, so going through the gate is okay?"); required evidence for conviction (e.g. whether video evidence are admissible). New York allows certain non-police employees to issue evasion citations, and utilizes both uniformed and undercover police enforcement.
Fines MTA's $60 penalty was internally set by
Transit Adjudication Bureau (TAB) with delegated powers. NYCT increased fines to $100 in July 2008, the maximum TAB can levy without further approvals, to support conversion to
Proof-of-Payment (POP) fare collection for the
Select Bus Service. Since January 1, 2025, fare evasion violations committed in a four-year period face a warning with no fine for the first offense, $100 fine for the second offense but its timely full payment gets an
OMNY credit, or $150 fine or a criminal summons for the third offense and up.
Other preventative measures There are also uniformed guards, undercover police officers, and
turnstiles to prevent fare evasion on the subway. On
Select Bus Service, a
penalty fare may need to be paid. ==See also==