Re: “Fare gate closures logical step in ending culture of freeloading,” April 6.
Turnstiles and gates have never prevented fare evaders to use transit systems without paying. Anyone that has used regularly rapid transit in London, Paris, New York, Toronto and other big towns have noticed it.
Japanese transit systems are private for the most part. At rush hours the gates are wide open as huge crowds literally run through the gates (the validators can read cards held a few centimetres above them, or even those in a pocket).
The staff doesn’t bother with cheaters as it would inconvenience too many people (some Japanese stations have several millions passengers A DAY!)
I have already seen people cheat TransLink by either pushing gates hard and entering or having one person scan their card and entering with their buddy glued to their back. A couple of TransLink policemen told me the same thing.
At any rate most of the fare evasions in most systems take place in buses. To be fair, most people do swipe the card on the 99 B line that I use daily.
Taping only when entering a bus is — contrary to what TransLink brains think — pretty much the rule in many transit systems.
J-L Brussac, Coquitlam
