MBTA fare evaders
 

I've had this happen twice in the last two weeks and am curious about how others would handle it. Both times, this was at the Temple Place entrance of the Downtown Crossing subway station.

Situation one: I was walking down the stairs when I saw someone walking up see me and immediately turn around. Smelling a poacher, I slowed down, let her get in front of me, then she let me get in front of her, then at the fare gate, I said "After you," at which point she told me of her intention to follow me in. I said I wasn't interested in doing that, she tried to convince me it wasn't a big deal. Eventually what I tried to do was to tap my card, let the gate open, and the stop immediately in front of the gate so she would be stuck behind. Unfortunately, the only gates at that entrance are the wide ones, so she shoved her way around me.

Situation two: Same entrance. I saw a couple of people loading a fare on the vending machine and thought little of it. I tapped my card, and the guy who was theoretically adding value to his card ran to the gate and ran through before I had a chance to say or do anything.

In both cases, there was not an attendant anywhere near that entrance. This kind of thing causes the T to lose many $$ per year and, call me selfish, but it causes fares for honest people like me and the large majority of riders to go up.

So I'm curious what people would do when someone freeloads on their fare. Do you find an attendant? Try to stop them before they enter? Do nothing at all? I do wish the MBTA had installed turnstiles at the gates when they did the CharlieCard installation a couple of years ago.

It's happened to me a few times...I've tried stopping right after the gate but it doesn't seem to help. Haven't bothered reporting them to an attendant. Honestly turnstiles would slow things down so badly that I don't want to see them used.

You never know the mental state of the person who is jumping the fare or whatever it's called up there.

I would not consider it safe to try and stop them, even if they just spit in your face, you don't have any idea what problems that could cause.

This piece of scum could have had a knife or gun on her. I would NOT have let her follow me. If she wanted a free ride, let her get it from someone else. I would have stepped away entirely.

Someone ran through your entrance to the subway from a vending machine before YOU had an opportunity to walk through after you tapped in front of the gate? I don't quite understand.

Even with turnstiles, people try to cheat the system by kneeling under them. If it does not involve me, I mind my own business. You never know what kind of violence that person is capable of doing.

It annoys the crap out of me, too. It's happens a dozen times or so a year. There's really no way to stop it from happening.

While I did not feel physically threatened, looking back, that's what I should have done. At that entrance, the only option is to go back out to the street and pick a different entrance; there's no "common lobby" area there.

Sorry about the confusion. I tapped my card and went through the gate to the orange line platform; I got through just fine. Just before the gate closed, the guy came running from the fare vending machine through the gate, setting off the alarm that is ignored 100% of the time. While I still got through paying only one fare, I didn't appreciate him running through behind me, but I don't think there's anything I could have done.

I wasn't referring to a "lobby". I meant I would have stepped back and let that person go through ahead of me or just walked out if I really felt threatened. It's not worth it.

Ahhh, now I understand. There is nothing you could have done if someone ran behind you and you didn't see that person. I didn't think those glass/plastic gates were open that long for someone to get there that quickly but obviously they are.

My question is, what's the difference of just jumping the gate? Who do they think they're fooling running behind someone and setting off the alarm? If there's no one there to watch, there's no one there to watch.

Sometimes it goes like this (St. Petersburg, Gor'kovskaya metro station near the main mosque of the city, the day of Eid al-Adha):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLoFnu60lBY

I would never risk my life getting into a confrontation with someone over this.

Besides, what would you do on the Green Line? People evade the fare there with much greater frequency.

Really? Are you talking about at the street-level stops or underground or both?

On the street level it's wicked easy to get on without paying. Seen it a thousand times, I'd never confront anyone about it. Not worth a confrontation.

Exactly. What's even more annoying is most times the drivers don't even care.

Interesting - I could imagine on the outbound, a passenger going out the back door and someone else going in the same door, but on the inbound I'm not sure how they go in the front door and just walk by the driver unless they happen to catch a lucky break with somebody going inbound and disembarking through the back door at another street level stop.

Inbound green line trains open their back doors at the larger stops. D Line, it's most of them. C Line, it's Washington Square and Coolidge Corner for sure, sometimes more than that. I haven't taken the B or E line in awhile.

Nor the "A" line, to Watertown.