These gates aren’t scaring away fare beaters — case closed.
The MTA’s new subway gates are already getting blasted as “easy to beat” – as even an elderly man with a cane was spotted easily skipping the fare at a Manhattan station Monday.
The agency’s latest bid at combating fare beating is falling flat with straphangers and even MTA workers, who told The Post the sliding plexiglass doors are no better “than the turnstile system” and could lead to disastrous injuries.
“It’s so easy to beat the fare just by following someone through. I stand here all day watching people do it. We can’t do anything,” an MTA worker said at the Broadway Lafayette subway station.
“The cops were here earlier, they don’t do anything.”
Following the morning rush at the major Manhattan hub, The Post witnessed at least six riders get past the “paddle door” gates at the entryway at East Houston and Broadway in about an hour, including the lawbreaker with the cane.
The MTA worker also pointed out a homeless man who shimmied underneath the panels.
Riders intent on avoiding the $2.90 fee have an easier time trailing behind a fellow commuter entering the transit system instead of a straphanger on their way out.
“Homeless guys will sometimes slide underneath, but they’re the only ones who do that. Last week I saw a guy climb over the top,” the worker said. “If a guy tries that and falls down and breaks his back, you’re looking at a lawsuit.”
An MTA spokesperson stressed the new fare gates are part of a pilot program “using technology from transit systems around the world.
“As we evaluate their performance, we’re learning more every day about how to design modern, effective fare gates for New York City,” the spokesperson said.
The fare beating effort will ultimately cost $1.1 billion with 150 subway stations getting the new gates over the next several years.
So far, roughly 20 stations are piloting three new gate designs from three different vendors before a final company or companies are selected, according to the MTA.
At the Broadway Lafayette station, alarms at the gates will go off – four loud blasts — when a fare beater sneaks through.
But the alarms can also be set off if a paying commuter simply stands in the open gate without passing for too long.
Rider Frank Cumming called the latest MTA endeavor “a waste of money.”
“People are finding ways to get through anyway, and they’re going to get hurt. And then we’re looking at lawsuits, and the lawsuits that add up are going to cost more than the money saved from fare beaters,” said the 45-year-old.
“I want to see it work out, but it’s not going to. What they should do is bring back the revolving door kinds of doors. You can’t hop those. And these right here, if they close on you, you can get hurt.”
Another rider, Kyong Kim, said she doesn’t think it’ll meaningfully cut down on fare evasion while causing safety issues.
She claimed the MTA was using riders as “guinea pigs.”
“I don’t think it’s any better than the turnstile system, and it’s a huge cost to make something that’s not working,” Kim said.
“I saw a teenage girl’s head caught between these two doors, and it was quite terrifying … They really have to study these things. I don’t really know why they’re testing this out in public now. This kind of thing should have been tested out in their own facilities.”
While a second MTA staffer at the station said she believes the new dates are reducing fare evasion, she also noted the unenviable positions riders can find themselves in.
“People get their heads stuck, their backpacks stuck,” the worker said. “There’s no way this can work.”
The MTA has lost about $400 million to subway fare evasion over the past year – despite the agency installing spikes on each side of the turnstile and flaps over the bars.
On top of fighting fare evasion, the new gates are meant to help riders with mobility aids and ensure speedier entries and exits from stations, according to the MTA.
The fare will jump to $3 – up 10 cents – starting on Jan. 4.
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