Name: BART’s new gate makes its debut to praise, doubts it will stop fare evaders
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BART’s new gate makes its debut to praise, doubts it will stop fare evaders

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateWhat is expected to be BART’s new fare gate of the future recently arrived at the Richmond station, where riders on Thursday said they doubted it would stop fare cheats even as the transit agency’s Board of Directors praised the new device.BART officials have said the new fare gates are needed to deter fare evaders, who were largely blamed for rising crime and declining ridership on trains before the coronavirus pandemic caused passengers to stay home and steer clear of public transit.The new gate, developed by BART engineers, stands 5 feet high and features plexiglass panels that swing open in the center like a set of saloon doors. Compressed air, rather than a motor, powers the gate and the pressure is adjusted to make the panels difficult to push through or pry apart. The swinging gates rest about a foot from the floor and stretch up to the heads and shoulders of most riders, making it a challenge to vault over or scramble under.The new gate has been in use at Richmond since May 30.More for youUnlike two previous prototypes produced by BART — derisively dubbed the “shark fin” and “guillotine” gates — the new model is relatively unobtrusive. It was generally well-received by agency directors and a handful of riders who spoke to The Chronicle while entering the Richmond station Thursday morning.A couple of hours before BART directors were briefed on the new fare gate, most of those entering or exiting the station used the existing gates, which are actually two stacked gates with pinchers or paddles that open and close near both the waist and the shoulders — or head. Some have likened that design to a guillotine.None of the dozen or so people who used the new gate, which functions as a priority entrance gate that stays open longer to facilitate entry by people with wheelchairs, bikes or luggage, attempted to skirt the required fare. That may have had something to do with the BART police officers standing nearby.But two riders paid their fares, walked through the open gates and questioned their impregnability.Daniel Chiodini, of Richmond, said the new fare gate did the job but echoed the opinion that fare evaders will still likely manage to ride BART for free.“They’ll find a way,” he said.The see-through panels were tough to push or pull apart but sat somewhat off-kilter, leaving a gap wide enough for the skinnier among us to wedge their way through to the trains. BART officials have described the new gates as the most effective for fare evasion and declared the swing gate the best design in September.Since then, BART engineers examined and tweaked the design of swing gates used in other transit agencies and came up with a pneumatic design that uses pressurized air to open and close the gates while providing sufficient pressure to keep them from being pried open. BART officials said it’s the first pneumatic swing gate in the world.The new gates cost about $1 million to design, produce and install, but it could save BART about $60 million by cutting the price tag on replacing all 715 fare gates to $90 million total and reducing the timeline for completing the work in three to five years. BART and the counties in which the system runs would share the expense.Directors made no final decisions about installing the gates system-wide Thursday, but they supported the plan, especially the cost savings.Director Liz Ames, of Union City, said that taller, sturdier gates would improve the safety or at least the perception of safety of riding BART, which will be important as the transit agency tries to lure back riders.BART’s ridership is slowly recovering from the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders but is still just 10% of normal. Even before the COVID-19 crisis hit and workplaces closed, BART ridership was already declining, due in part to a feeling that BART was unsafe. That impression was bolstered by a 2019 Alameda County grand jury report that found BART crime had more than doubled since 2014.“Riders want to see the (new) gates; they say they want to see fewer police at the gates,” Ames said. “There will be less lawlessness with the gates. We need to control the system more right now. People want to feel safe riding transit.”Meanwhile, the issue of reforming or defunding the BART Police Department led to an emotional exchange between BART directors, including Janice Li, who has been embroiled in an ongoing Twitter battle with the BART Police Officers Association.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.After several people advocated for eliminating funding for the BART Police Department during a public hearing — one of them calling BART police “murderers” and referring to the death of Oscar Grant at the hands of a former officer — Director Debora Allen, of Clayton, defended the police, calling the remarks lies and “politically motivated.”Li, of San Francisco, defended those who have called for defunding the transit agency’s police department.“To ignore those comments is willfully ignorant,” she said.Li has sparred with BART’s police union on Twitter stretching back to at least February. The director quoted a transit agency ambassador who said that homeless “people just want a place to sleep” and said denying that would be “inhumane.”The police officers association retweeted that remark and accused Li of wanting to turn BART into “a rolling homeless shelter” while also accusing her of calling those who disagree “racists.”Li did not mention racism in her tweet.BART’s police union called Li’s comments “unbelievable and tone deaf.”BART Director advocates for the trains to be a rolling homeless shelter or we are “racists. “ Unbelievable and tone deaf to what a vast majority of the ridership wants. Safe and clean trains should be the priority. — BARTpoliceOA (@BARTpoliceOA)Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateWhat is expected to be BART’s new fare gate of the future recently arrived at the Richmond station, where riders on Thursday said they doubted it would stop fare cheats even as the transit agency’s Board of Directors praised the new device.BART officials have said the new fare gates are needed to deter fare evaders, who were largely blamed for rising crime and declining ridership on trains before the coronavirus pandemic caused passengers to stay home and steer clear of public transit.The new gate, developed by BART engineers,...

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Michael Cabanatuan is a general assignment, breaking news reporter. He previously covered all things transportation for the San Francisco Chronicle — from BART strikes, acrobatic bridge construction and dark dirty tunnel excavations to the surging ridership on public transportation and the increasing conflict as cars, bikes and pedestrians struggle to coexist on the streets.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/michael-cabanatuan/

Michael Cabanatuan

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BART’s new gate makes its debut to praise, doubts it will stop fare evaders

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