The MTA is planning to reconfigure its subway turnstiles to prevent a phenomenon where they’re pulled back in the reverse direction, enabling a fare evader to slip through without paying.
The agency has already adjusted the mechanics of 26 turnstiles to prevent the maneuver, which has been dubbed “back-cocking,” and plans to upgrade another 240 this summer. The remaining 3,479 turnstiles throughout the system will receive the modification over the next two years, at a cost the MTA pegs at $2 million. However, the investment will prevent more than $45 million in estimated losses from fare evasion using the technique, according to New York City Transit’s subways chief Demetrius Crichlow.
“Even if we get a portion of that back, it will save the company a ton of money,” Crichlow said at the MTA’s Transit Committee meeting on Monday. “It definitely works, it stops them. It doesn’t stop them from seeking other means of fare evading, but it definitely does stop the back-cocking.”