MTA unveils gates in Qns. designed to stop fare-beaters

New fare gates are set to be installed at three stations across the subway system, part of an MTA bid to increase accessibility and curb fare evasion.

The first batch of eight fare gates was unveiled Monday at the Sutphin Blvd.-Archer Ave. station on the E, J and Z lines.

Quemuel Arroyo, MTA’s chief accessibility officer, called the new gates “the first truly modern fare array in the system,” though he emphasized that the gates are part of a trial run to test out the technology.

The new gates don’t have rotating arms like a traditional turnstile, but keep people out with motorized, plexiglass panels or doors that move out of the way after a fare is paid.

Similar systems are used in transit systems worldwide, where their height discourages would-be fare jumpers.

“The MTA unveiled an array of fare gates at the Sutphin Blvd.-Archer Ave. station on the E, J and Z lines Monday. The new gates are meant to facilitate access for riders with strollers, luggage or a wheelchair, while discouraging turnstile-jumping.

The new gates are also wider than typical turnstiles, making it easier for straphangers with luggage to enter. Two gates are extra-wide, to allow a person with a stroller or a wheelchair to access the system.

The MTA held a showcase of similar turnstile replacements at Grand Central Terminal in May, displaying a slate of competing doorbased fare arrays in the marbled halls of the train station.

None of the four companies involved in that showcase are involved in this trial run, however, nor has the agency begun a formal bidding process on turnstile replacements.

Cubic, the firm that developed both the MetroCard and OMNY fare payment systems, built the gates installed at the Sutphin-Archer station, MTA officials said.

“These are the gates that we found that were available to us today,” Arroyo said. “The gate that you see rolled out in a broader sense may not be these gates, they may not be Cubic gates.

“We’re looking for ‘the New York gate,’ which does not [yet] exist,” he added. “All the fail-points of these gates will become the requirements for the gate of the future.”

Eugene Resnick, an MTA spokesman said the new gates cost “just under $700,000,” and were part of a preexisting contract. Cubic built a similar wheelchair-access gate for a trial run at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn earlier this year.

New York City Transit President Rich Davey said Monday that he hoped to start the formal bidding process on additional fare gates “early in the new year.”

“We’re very anxious to continue to test some of this technology,” he said.

Additional trial gates are expected at the Penn Station A, C and E entrance in the coming weeks.

In a report this spring, an MTA panel on fare-jumping called modernizing fare arrays “the single most important thing the MTA can do to reduce fare evasion in the subway.”

The agency estimates that it lost $285 million last year due to fare evasion in the subway system.

Bah humbug: The MTA is once again issuing a booze ban for LIRR and Metro-North railroads when SantaCon comes to NYC this weekend.

In anticipation of the booze-soaked revelry featuring pub crawlers in Santa Claus costumes making the rounds, the LIRR and MNR will ban alcohol on trains and platforms from 4 a.m. Saturday through noon Sunday.

“Ensuring everyone has access to safe and orderly travel is a top priority,” MTA Police Chief John Mueller said in a statement. “The holiday season is a wonderful time of year, and we want everyone to get to their destination smoothly and on time while enjoying the festivities.”

Though commuter rail bar cars are a thing of the past, the MTA typically allows riders to imbibe within reason while aboard LIRR or Metro-North trains.

This weekend, however, all potent potables are strictly prohibited.

Mueller said his department will step up patrols at Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station to enforce the ban.

Cops will confiscate any alcohol and issue summons to violators, the chief said. Particularly spirited Santas will be removed from trains or train stations.

Transit tippling remains forbidden on MTA subways and buses, as it is year-round.

The Noel-themed bar hop is infamous for bringing carousing Clauses to Manhattan in what organizers call “a charitable, nonpolitical, nonsensical Santa Claus convention … to spread absurdist joy.”

Stumbling Santas are asked to make a $15 donation to local charities in return for participating in the event.

The MTA has banned booze on SantaCon weekends since 2012. The boisterous holiday tradition dates back to 1997.