by Barry A. Liebling
For many years I have lived in New York City, and I use the subways frequently. There has always been crime and fare-beating, but since the 2020 pandemic bad behavior has dramatically increased. Every day you can witness many people routinely going over or under subway turnstiles and riding without paying.
The subway system is managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Recent developments related to attempts to reduce fare-beating are an indication of how effective the executives in charge of the MTA are. Sneak preview – not good enough.
When you ride the subway there are two types of entrances that are most common. Usually you encounter the ordinary turnstile that is similar to what is used in movie theaters. When you use your pre-paid Omni Card the lock is released, and the arms are turned vertically (like a ferris wheel) as you push your way in. If someone wants to evade the fare it is easy to hop over the turnstile or slither underneath it.
Less frequently you will come across a revolving door, similar to a carousel that rotates horizontally. The enclosure has a series of bars from floor to ceiling, and there is no obvious way to defeat the mechanism. When this entrance is used determined fare-beaters have to work harder. For example, they might pay one fare the conventional way and then stuff two people in the turning chamber. Alternatively, they can look for an exit door that is open and sneak through.
At the beginning of 2025 a large number of turnstile entrances were modified. Fins were installed on the arms of the turnstiles which resulted in adding about four inches of height to the mechanism. When I first saw them it was obvious they were intended to make it harder to evade the fare. I was not impressed because I knew that determined fare-beaters could easily lift themselves a few more inches, or if necessary, simply duck under the rotating arms.
At the end of 2025 several local news outlets reported that the anti-theft fin devices are completely ineffective. There are numerous videos available online that show individuals hopping over or ducking under the fin-enhanced turnstiles. As anyone paying attention knew from the beginning, those who want to evade payment have no problem defeating the fin mechanism.
Significantly, local news is reporting that the management of the subway system intends to install more fin-enhanced turnstiles early in 2026. The New York Post announced that “the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) will dish out $7.3 million to expand its anti-fare evasion gadgets to nearly every subway station in the five boroughs.” “The Transit Authority has retained Boyce Technologies to add more fare-evasion ‘sleeves’ and vertical ‘fins’ at subway entrances, ultimately bringing the hardware to 456 of the city’s 472 stations by January.”
https://nypost.com/2025/12/18/us-news/nyc-subway-fare-jumpers-easily-beat-anti-theft-fins-as-mta-spends-7-3m-to-bring-program-to-nearly-every-station/
A lot has been said about the lack of enforcement on subways. Transit personnel and police are not aggressively apprehending scofflaws. If they were to do so the incidence of fare beating would undoubtedly be reduced. But that is a topic for another column. Instead, I want to focus on management’s decision to install fins on turnstiles.
Let’s go back to the beginning. Before the first fin-enhanced turnstiles were put in the stations there must have been a prototype of the proposed mechanism. There is no doubt that executives of the subway system examined the model and gave their approval. What could they have been thinking? If it looks like it will not work to me, how was it convincing to professionals who are in charge of managing the subway system?
Suppose the subway executives acted in a responsible way. Instead of merely looking at the fin-model and deciding, they should have conducted a simple experiment. Install the new “enhanced” turnstiles in one subway station and track how many people beat them and avoid paying. Compare the results to a similar station with the old conventional turnstiles. The fins might reduce bad behavior. They might increase fare-beating. Perhaps there will be no net effect. Was this experiment done? If so, what were the results?
Since the beginning of 2025 the new mechanisms have been installed in many stations. Did fare-beating dramatically decrease in those locations? Surely the Transit Authority has data that is relevant to this question.
A decision must have been made regarding what to do in 2026. What is the justification for spending more than $7 million on additional fin-enhanced turnstiles? Surely there are internal documents that explain why this expenditure is likely to have a positive effect on the financial performance of the subway system.
While the New York City subway system is a business, it is a government-owned and controlled business. Note well that a private profit-oriented business would pay a high price if it blundered and spent a huge amount of money for no apparent benefit. Will Metropolitan Transportation Authority executives get in trouble if the new turnstiles do not enhance the performance of the subway system?
Also consider Boyce Technologies, the company that will be installing the new devices. What did its executives say to their MTA client? In the best case the company could have said something like, “We will build and install the mechanisms according to the specifications you give us. It is the responsibility of the MTA to forecast and evaluate how effective the new devices will be.”
Alternatively, if Boyce Technologies asserted that the devices would reduce fare-beating the company will have to explain the basis of its prediction. Did it conduct experiments on its own? Is there a history of fin-enhanced turnstile outcomes that it can cite?
There is no doubt that running the unwieldily New York City subway system is a difficult and challenging task. There is no scenario where the subways run smoothly and free of problems. But the current management of the MTA is not performing well and needs to do better.
See other entries at AlertMindPublishing.com in “Monthly Columns.”