BART completes installation of next generation fare gates four months ahead of schedule
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has finished installing next generation fare gates at all 50 stations four months ahead of schedule. The agency had initially promised to finish by the end of 2025, but the agency was able to install the final gates in August.
“This is the latest in a string of victories for riders that are transforming the daily BART experience,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “Since last year, we have boosted our visible safety presence in the system, increased cleaning, gone to running only Fleet of the Future trains, became the first transit agency in the Bay Area to offer riders Tap and Ride and now we have installed state-of-the-art fare gates that are already deterring unwanted behavior. Our riders say they want a system that is safe, clean and user friendly, and we are responding with decisive actions.”
According to BART, riders witnessing fare evasion has dropped by more than 50% over the past year. In the latest Quarterly Performance Report, only 10% of riders said they saw someone fare evade, down from 22% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. BART says reports of fare evasion have steadily decreased as the next generation fare gates were installed across the system.
“The completion of the next generation fare gates project marks a major step forward in modernizing our system and enhancing the rider experience,” said BART Board Vice President Melissa Hernandez. “These new gates improve accessibility, safety and efficiency and reflect BART’s commitment to investing in the future of public transit across the Bay Area.”
BART says the gates include a unique door locking mechanism that makes swing barriers difficult to push through, jump over or maneuver under. Each fare gate array — including the gate, console and integrated barrier — forms a minimum 72-inch-high barrier to deter fare evasion. In total, BART replaced 715 fare gates across its five-county system.
The gates deployed by BART are the only ones of their kind in the world,” said BART Assistant General Manager for infrastructure delivery and fare gates project head Sylvia Lamb. “Our team did incredible work to beat the installation deadline by several months. Now we will benefit from lessons learned over the last year through the experiences of hundreds of thousands of riders to focus on making these gates even more resilient.”