BART begins installing new fare gates at SF stations to stop evaders

BART is installing their next batch of what they are calling Next Generation Fare Gates to deter people from fare evading.

The San Francisco Civic Center BART station is the second location where new gates are going. The first station where BART tested new gates was in West Oakland over six months ago.

MORE: New BART gates to be installed at 8 more stations for public safety, fare evasion prevention

BART rider Dennis Fernandez says he has seen multiple people fare evading.

"People jumping, or people trying to sneak and squeeze their body through the turnstiles, or I have seen somebody wait for somebody to get in and piggyback off the entrance," said Fernandez.

BART says pre-pandemic numbers project it was losing tens of millions of dollars because people were finding ways to avoid paying.

"It also bothers me that it's being done directly in front of BART employees," said BART rider Richard Peterson.

ABC7 News saw several people jumping over gates. One was stopped by a BART police officer right after making it to the other side.

MORE: Woman killed after being pushed into SF BART train remembered as 'kind, generous'

We are learning new details about the woman who was killed after being pushed into an oncoming BART train at Powell Station in San Francisco.

Just two weeks ago, a frequent BART rider Corazon Dandan was killed when a man pushed her into an oncoming train at Powell station.

On Thursday, BART confirmed the suspect had no proof he paid his fare.

"The reality is that people who fare evade - not every fare evader commits a crime, but it is not uncommon for us to see that people who have unwanted behavior on BART have fare evaded to get in," said Chris Filippi, spokesperson for BART.

Our ABC7 News data team looked into monthly fare evasion citations and found fare evasion is trending up. BART says they are noticing a decline at the West Oakland station where new gates were installed in December of last year.

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"The number of entries and exits at West Oakland is up 120,000 from the same period of the first six months of 2022. So, what that is telling us is that there are more people are tagging in with their Clipper Card at West Oakland than they were before the new gates went in," said Filippi.

BART's plan is to replicate the West Oakland station gates throughout the system. This week they are beginning to install the second batch of new gates at the San Francisco Civic Center station.

"This is a priority project for BART. We are going to place more than 700 fare gates across the system at all 50 of our stations," said Filippi.

MORE: Are BART's new 7-foot fare gates working to deter evaders? Here's what agency says

For years, BART has struggled to keep fare evaders off trains. Two weeks ago, the agency began testing new 7-foot gates at the West Oakland station.

BART said the new gates are one aspect they are improving adding more police presence is another.

When ABC7 News noticed a person jump over the gate, they saw a BART officer and went back to buy a ticket.

"New gates is one thing but safety and security needs to be beyond a gate," said Peterson.

BART is projecting to be done installing all the new fare gates by the end of 2025.

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