Posted on September 5, 2022

Fare Evasion Problems Might Lead Metro to Replace Entry Gates — Again, Sources Say

Adam Tuss, NBC Washington, August 31, 2022

Metro has spent millions of dollars installing new faregates across the rail system in the past year – but sources in the transit agency say the gates might change again because of issues with fare evasion.

Riders and station managers have told News4 they see it all the time at Metro stations: people not paying the fare, and, instead, going right through the faregates.

Metro estimates it loses more than $25 million each year because of fare evasion.

Sources said Metro’s new General Manager Randy Clarke wants to look at possibly modifying faregates to prevent such losses.

Metro could change gates to be more restrictive, like those that have been piloted on the BART system in San Francisco and Oakland, California.

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The problem, however, is that Metro just spent millions to install new faregates across the system, and would have to spend even more.

The new gates have no physical barrier on top of them to prevent anyone from going across.

But if someone does jump across the gates, it beeps to alert the station manager.

Further complicating the issue, fare evasion is not uniformly enforced across Metro because it was decriminalized in D.C.

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