LIRR Looks To The Platform To Help Stymie Fare Evaders

LONG ISLAND, NY — It isn't exactly a common occurrence, but ride a train on the Long Island Rail Road long enough and you will likely see a conductor otherwise engaged with a passenger who has no interest in either presenting or purchasing a ticket. A new, expanded pilot program will see some of these difficult conversations taking place on the platform, rather than occupying the conductor's time and sometimes even delaying departure from the station.

According to MTA Spokesperson Joana Flores, this less familiar method of collecting tickets is known as "gating," and the expansion has its roots in a 2023 blue-ribbon report on MTA fare and toll evasion — though the practice has been used occasionally for decades.

Flores said the newest "gating" pilot program is intended as much to educate riders about the importance of having tickets purchased and mobile tickets activated prior to boarding as it is to discourage potential scofflaws. Checking tickets and passes before boarding has the added benefit of dissuading passengers from not activating e-tickets once on the train to get a free ride.

"The crew member’s ticket collection process is not slowed down when purchases and activations are done prior to boarding," Flores told Patch. "This allows them to move through the train to collect all revenue in a timely manner."

During the gating exercises, passengers are expected to have their paper tickets ready, or e-tickets activated, to present to a railroad employee before boarding trains.

The MTA said that while the pilot program will experiment with expanding the use of gating, the railroad has a great deal of experience using the ticket collection method.

The LIRR has been gating at Mets-Willets Point and Forest Hills for many events since around 2006 and 2013, respectively. The railroad has since expanded to also include piloting the gating program at Penn Station and Elmont-UBS Arena, and now routinely gates at Elmont-UBS Arena for certain events, Flores said.

Metro-North Railroad has been gating every home Yankee game since the station’s opening on May 8, 2009, and at Grand Central Terminal for Thanksgiving and New Year's for over 25 years. Other stations will be considered.

Another key aspect of the pilot program are media campaigns, including social media posts informing customers about activating tickets and discouraging fare evasion, especially to and from events, she said.