In an effort to curtail fare jumpers, SEPTA is testing new, taller gates at 69th Street Transportation Center, writes Mike DeNardo for KYW Newsradio.

Under a $1 million pilot, SEPTA expected to install 20 of the new nearly full-length, dual-panel gates at 69th Street by the end of April.

“We need people to know that you must pay to get on SEPTA,” said Leslie Richards, the transit agency’s general manager. “We are losing about $30 to $40 million a year on fare evasion.”

The gates include an imaging system that can sense when a fare evader rushes through behind a paying rider.

According to SEPTA Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson, the new gates will provide better data on fare evasion, by alerting police to fare jumpers and tracking each instance. 

“Not only is it harder to … physically get through, but it has an audible alarm for every non-fare paying customer,” he said. “We’re automating every instance of fare evasion.”

Lawson added that SEPTA police issued 2,500 citations for fare evasion last year, and is on pace to obliterate that number without this new tool.

If effective, SEPTA will look into installing the gates and five or six more subway stations in the next several years.

Read more about SEPTA’s efforts to stop turnstile jumpers in KYW Newsradio.

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