In an effort to crack down on fare evasion, BART has unveiled a new prototype for their fare gates at the West Oakland station on Thursday, which is the first update to the transit agency's gates in 20 years.
The new gate is part of the public transportation system's Clean and Safe Plan. BART says it seeks to open over 700 new gates by 2025.
These are not the final version of the fare gates that will be installed throughout the rest of the system, a press release from BART said on Thursday.
The agency also boasted that it will be installing the "latest door-braking technology" within the coming weeks, adding that this new mechanical door lock will be exclusive to BART.
"Once installed, these gates will be harder to push through than any other fare gate in the world," the release said.
For now, West Oakland will serve as a field test for the new gates, but BART has added that at the Jan. 11 board meeting of next year, they will be ready to announce the next eight stations to receive updated gates.
"As a transportation system, we take tremendous pride in saying our riders are what runs BART," said BART General Manager Bob Powers. "Among the world's transit agencies, BART relies the most on rider fares; they are directly responsible for funding our operations. These new, state-of-the-art fare gates will protect against fare evasion, expand access to transit-dependent riders, and reduce system downtime due to maintenance, which helps boost investment in BART's long-term growth."
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BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin also spoke highly of the new fare gates, saying "these stronger, higher gates will limit fare evasions through self-enforced fare payments, keep riders safe and engaged to return to BART, and have police officers focused on more serious situations that require emergency services."
The agency added that it is working to increase access to BART by more than doubling the discount for low-income individuals from 20% to 50% starting Jan. 1.
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Earlier this year, BART began to exclusively run their newer, smaller trains in what they said is an effort to make the system safer.
