New York's MTA estimates that it loses $700 million - that's right, close to a BILLION - dollars every year due to people beating the current gate system.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CDubvHEiy_Q?feature=share
You can tell that was designed by consultants who have no idea of actual New York subway conditions.
I already see disaster for anyone negotiating one with a briefcase or shopping bags, as the leaves close on your wrist and of course don't reopen. Presumably both leaves are motored but no indication how they promptly reverse without slapping either the person going through who stopped or anyone on the far side who doesn't move fast enough away. And if I understand the design correctly, those leaves are either heavy plastic or tempered glass -- the latter being a tempting target for a large percentage of those currently accounting for the supposed 350-million-odd turnstile jumps per year...
They'd probably get a little further with some variant of a porcupine gate, which at least would have the advantage of only one-way reasonably continuous motion, or just extend the rockers as used on the Washington system to be high enough that scofflaws can't easily vault them -- and clear enough not to induce claustrophobia. (My own suggestion from the '70s was to have two sets of the rockers: one in the normal orientation to serve as the 'gate', and the second pair actuating when sensors detected someone at 'higher altitude' entering the gate to jump it...)
Note that the leaf system won't stop two people snuggled together from getting through unless it's programmed so aggressively that it starts jostling lots of customers -- many of who will be sickeningly eager to take legal or political action if they are touched or perceive they are injured or discomfited by the rocket action.
What the Hochul administration should consider is two sets of gates, which light up, sound an alarm, and imprison anyone detected as trying to pass without paying. Pour descourager les autres, of course...
We've had entry/exit gates like that in Toronto for several years now. They work well. Touch in, they open. Approach them going out, they open. There is adequate time to bring through a cart or wheelchair. London has had them for a long time but generally after 10 at night they are left open. I think the thought behind that is that by 10pm, everyone's Oyster card has paid enough for the day. In London you touch in and out and the fare depends on the zone. It's a good system. In both cities I've never seen anyone jump the gates but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
I saw them in an Italy train station in the entrance to a pay restroom. They were not as tall as the ones in the video.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
Not tempered glass, but laminated glass-- like auto windshields.
And the floors of the atrium balconies of Portman-designed hotels.
And the walls ofv Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral and Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center concert hall.
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