by ckb
So I've been taking greater note of some of the turnstyle "jumping" over the last few days and have some questions/comments:
It seems the preferred method of "jumping" is to walk up to the turnstyle, pull it towards you as if someone was exiting, step into the created space and then walk through as the gate returns to its 'home' position. Folks have the routine down quite smoothly so it must be pretty easy (and they probably have lots of practice). haven't tested it myself (with my luck i would be caught, despite an obvious lack of enforcement), but they do have quite a routine. some of them even act out putting in a token or swiping a pass and if you don't know what you are looking for, it is incredibly slick -- a lot more subtle than actually jumping over the things. It is also a rampant problem - today I noticed three people do it at Central just while I was on the train looking out the window -- and one of them was even a guy in a suit and carrying a breifcase!
Now, I know the T must be losing some substantial money this way, but the return on investment alone for having better enforcement probably isn't worth it (although I certainly wouldn't mind seeing some police in the stations every once in awhile in general, and I think their presence would help cut down on the problem).
But is there a better way to prevent this? Seems to me that once the turnstyles have been pulled just a bit they shouldn't be allowed to go back at all. Is this because they have been worn out, overworked, and undermaintained, or were they always like that? Does a similar thing happen in other cities (in new york and D.C. i have seen people doing the actual jump)? With the new fare collection system will the styles be new as well, or just the readers?
It seems the preferred method of "jumping" is to walk up to the turnstyle, pull it towards you as if someone was exiting, step into the created space and then walk through as the gate returns to its 'home' position. Folks have the routine down quite smoothly so it must be pretty easy (and they probably have lots of practice). haven't tested it myself (with my luck i would be caught, despite an obvious lack of enforcement), but they do have quite a routine. some of them even act out putting in a token or swiping a pass and if you don't know what you are looking for, it is incredibly slick -- a lot more subtle than actually jumping over the things. It is also a rampant problem - today I noticed three people do it at Central just while I was on the train looking out the window -- and one of them was even a guy in a suit and carrying a breifcase!
Now, I know the T must be losing some substantial money this way, but the return on investment alone for having better enforcement probably isn't worth it (although I certainly wouldn't mind seeing some police in the stations every once in awhile in general, and I think their presence would help cut down on the problem).
But is there a better way to prevent this? Seems to me that once the turnstyles have been pulled just a bit they shouldn't be allowed to go back at all. Is this because they have been worn out, overworked, and undermaintained, or were they always like that? Does a similar thing happen in other cities (in new york and D.C. i have seen people doing the actual jump)? With the new fare collection system will the styles be new as well, or just the readers?