UPPER DARBY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA says its revenue is up at 69th Street station, where new gates designed to deter fare-jumpers have been installed.
In April, 12 nearly full-length fare gates were installed at the 69th Street Transportation Center at the entrance to the Market-Frankford Line. SEPTA Chief of Staff Liz Smith says it looks like they're working.
"We've seen about a full doubling of sales of Quick Trips and contactless at 69th Street since the gates have been installed," Smith said. She feels the doubled revenue is a “clear indication that these gates are reducing fare evasion."
Smith couldn't provide raw numbers on the instances of fare evasion since the gates were installed. She said people are still stealing rides by rushing through before the gates close after a fare-paying customer.
"We're certainly seeing what we call 'tailgating.' It's hard to say if it's better or worse than it was before," she said. "I think we're taking a lot of solace in the fact that we are overall seeing more fare-paying customers.
"We know that there's no gate that exists that will stop all fare evasion," she explained. "Our goal with the pilot that we've seen success on is to reduce the amount of fare evasion that we're seeing."
Smith said when the gates' 3D imaging systems detect a fare-jumper, an alarm sounds, but its factory setting is at a low level.
"We're working on increasing the volume of those alarms so that it's clear to those around you that someone is fare-evading and it's also clear to our transit police," Smith said.
SEPTA is also exploring other tweaks, including changing the speed at which the doors close and the pressure it takes to move them from a closed position.
SEPTA estimates it loses $30 million to $40 million to fare evasion each year. The transit agency has already budgeted $15 million to install the new gates at more stations.