Overview
- MTA officials and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that a yearlong pilot of new sensor‑equipped sliding-door gates at 20 stations reduced fare evasion by an average of 35 percent at those sites.
- The pilot produced much larger drops at some locations, with Hoyt Street and Nostrand Avenue reporting about 72 percent reductions and Third Avenue–138th Street about 65 percent.
- Three vendors — Cubic, Conduent, and STraffic — supplied pilot equipment at no cost and have been qualified to compete in the next request‑for‑proposals stage for the wider rollout.
- The agency said early work will begin this month, installations at 20 additional stations will start by the end of 2026, and a $1.1 billion program in the capital plan funds eventual installation at roughly 150 busy stations.
- Officials cautioned that pilot metrics are station‑level counts and not systemwide reductions, and critics and media outlets have flagged viral videos, data‑window questions, and at least one reported safety incident as issues to monitor as the rollout scales.