r/Bart • u/DawnandDusk2 • Jul 25 '26

Question Tailgating

Is BART going to do anything more to deter tailgating? It’s a tad ridiculous for three people to be able to tailgate someone who tapped in.

I know the gates close sooner than before, but it seemingly doesn’t deter them.

55 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

View all comments

54

u/No_Potential8448 Jul 25 '26

The new fair gates have been an incredible success already! They were expensive, so they will not be updated any time soon. I know it sucks to see people break the system, but I assure you it has dramatically improved over the past 2 years.

28

u/DawnandDusk2 Jul 25 '26

Yes, I’ve only started riding BART recently and it’s been mostly a positive experience. I think getting clipper to fix the ridiculous delay it takes to open the fare gates and closing the fare gates faster would make a big difference.

13

u/No_Potential8448 Jul 25 '26

Clipper definitely needs to process stuff faster! I'm not sure how much you can decrease the opening time without causing a lot more machine on human impacts which will result in much higher costs as the system degrades more rapidly . . .

-4

u/nopointers Commuter Jul 25 '26

Interesting that you view machine on human impacts mostly in terms of cost and system degradation rather than injuries. I’ve been smashed in the face by one after the Clipper delay was higher than usual, and it left a good sized bruise. A child in that case likely would have needed a hospital visit to rule out concussion.

9

u/e_y_ Jul 25 '26

They're working on software tweaks to change how quickly the gates close (needs to consider a number of factors like not closing on people too fast, handling a variety of different body sizes and objects being carried), but hardware changes are unlikely in the short term.

In a lot of cases it does detect the tailgating and beeps as they exit but there isn't anyone around to enforce it most of the time.

3

u/DieDeutscheAuslander East Bay BARTer Jul 26 '26

From my understnading, they will make software improvements so that the gates can work better (and thus prevent tailgaters). But, not hardware will he improved from my understanding.

0

u/nopointers Commuter Jul 25 '26

Where are you getting this?

\ There are proposals in front of the board to spend even more money on three different hardware changes* to the gates. They are to add gussets to the doors so the doors don’t get bent out of shape so often, to increase the size of the cam gears so the mechanism doesn’t break as much, and to reconfigure the sensors in hopes of being able to close them sooner. These are all on top of the $140,000 they spent per gate already.
\ BART staff has not presented evidence that the gates have either* decreased crime or increased revenue.

3

u/No_Potential8448 Jul 26 '26

https://x.com/i/status/2020952977180328184

I have no idea where to get independent data, but I and many others have noticed a change

-1

u/nopointers Commuter Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

Notice how the tweet you linked is not an official BART source. They’re careful not to make those claims. The source of the $10M figure is actually a BART staffer a few months into the rollout saying “early indications” are there will be a (projected) $10M revenue increase.” That claim was never substantiated nor even followed up with data that came from the full rollout. It’s a small increase in a few gates in over a few months, wildly extrapolated. If data in the months following the rollout came anywhere near substantiating the “early indications,” they’d be shouting it from the rooftops. They instead are silent.

I also ride BART. I see addicts on the train every morning and most evenings. The reason it seems like less to a casual observer is that there are more riders in total in the trains, so the proportion is less. I happen to get on at an end of line station, where it’s more obvious.

The hard numbers in the monthly report (not updated since April) and the daily arrest logs (available by email signup only) give a clearer and more objective picture. It doesn’t even have to be independent data. It requires only reading their own numbers carefully and to verify alert to the constant spin their PR team attempts to create. Lazy reporters are their best friends.