The Metro staff report posted below explains the process that Metro will take in locking the gates at Metro Rail stations. The report is to the Board of Directors on a receive-and-file basis; no action is required. The Board voted in February to begin the gate-locking process this year.
The biggest change which could happen the soonest: the conversion of paper tickets to paper TAP cards this spring. As for the gate locking, the plan is to begin at the Normandie station on the Metro Purple Line subway and then lock the gates at the remaining Red and Purple Line stations over the rest of 2012.
Here’s the report — it’s only two pages.
Will they allow for free transfers now? It’s a scandal that Los Angeles transit riders are asked to pay twice for a trip that requires a connection. Hopefully with everything on TAP, they can make the fare valid for 90 minutes, rather than for one ride. Especially while we’re still waiting for the downtown regional connector, it’s ludicrous to ask someone to pay three times to get from Pasadena to USC, when they’re getting a much slower trip than someone going from Union Station to North Hollywood, and not costing Metro any more.
If you want to get to USC from Pasadena, it’s only $1.50 – take the Gold Line from Union Station and then take the tram in Patsaouras Plaza from Union Station to either UPC or HSC.
But I understand what you mean, and I do like the idea of a metro ride being valid for 90 minutes across all rail, or at least charging you a transfer fee within that period. This is also similar to Amsterdam’s electronic card system, where if you make a transfer (Overstaap) within a specified time period, you pay only a minimal transfer fee rather than the initial price.
This article mentions only the Red/Purple lines. What is the impact on the Green/Blue line stations? That does not appear to be addressed here.
@Dana
Incorrect. Every single city in the world started off with an honor system when transit ridership was low, but at a certain point they moved to a gate locked system when transit ridership became high enough that fare evasion became problematic.
New York started off with no gates when they first started out just like LA. It may not seem that way because most people don’t remember the time when they used to run with no gates (early 1900s!), but they all moved to them at one point. Back then they didn’t have machines to do it so they hired station staff to collect tickets as they entered the system.
Hi Charlene;
The possible installation of gates and locking them on the other rail lines will be determined at a later date.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
I’m a daily commuter into both Los Angeles and Pasadena from Santa Clarita on the Metrolink. It irritates me to no end that come June, I will no longer be able to use my Metrolink Monthly Pass for my connection to the Red, Purple, and Gold Lines if they don’t convert the tickets and passes to TAP (which won’t happen in just 10 weeks). I’m very sure that the thousands of people who connect to the Metrolink at Union Station from Metro Rail, and vice versa, using Metrolink tickets and passes will be just as irritated.
Hi George;
A solution is being worked on to make Metrolink tickets TAP-enabled. Stay tuned please.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
It appears that seniors and disabled who do not have a TAP card won’t be able to purchase a discounted ticket for rail. That would be a problem especially for people coming from outside the region.
@George
You should submit your complaints to Metrolink, not Metro. They’ve had years to get moving to TAP, but some reason they’ve refused to do so. At the same time, Metrolink has raised fares and the expensive monthly Metrolink pass that you get is nothing more than printed on cheap thermal print paper that cost less than a penny to issue.
For all the money you and Metrolink commuters have been paying and with all the revenue they’ve been earning from printing those $250 monthly passes onto cheap thermal print paper, don’t you think they should’ve had enough capital to move to TAP by now?
So why should Metro be held hostage to fare evaders because the mysterious stubbornness of Metrolink clinging onto ancient paper pass technology?
“They’ve had years to get moving to TAP, but some reason they’ve refused to do so.”
Metrolink is not as big as Metro. It does not have as much service as Metro. It has at minimum two ticket machines at each station that would need to be upgraded. They feel Positive Train Control is a much better investment.
“At the same time, Metrolink has raised fares and the expensive monthly Metrolink pass that you get is nothing more than printed on cheap thermal print paper that cost less than a penny to issue.”
That’s sort of why they issue that ticket and a fare increase was avoided last year.
“For all the money you and Metrolink commuters have been paying and with all the revenue they’ve been earning from printing those $250 monthly passes onto cheap thermal print paper, don’t you think they should’ve had enough capital to move to TAP by now?”
The fare only pays for half of what it costs to operate the service, and does not provide for any capital. That must come from local, state and federal sources.
“So why should Metro be held hostage to fare evaders because the mysterious stubbornness of Metrolink clinging onto ancient paper pass technology?”
Metro is not held hostage to fare evaders. Riders themselves are paranoid about others not paying their fare despite the fact that they don’t have any evidence. Am I paying the fare? I have rarely ever used a Metro ticket machine. I’ve never “tapped” my ticket in my life. Yet I’ve been in compliance all this time. To you, I would just be another scoundrel that isn’t paying.