How bad is BART fare evasion? We saw 90 people in 92 minutes slip through the gates

BART is plagued with a host of challenges. The transit agency has to figure out how to deal with a surge in violent crime over the past decade, riders' demands for cleaner, less-crowded cars and elevators that are used as restrooms nearly as often as they are used to get from point A to point B.

But perhaps one of BART's most visible problems is the huge number of riders who take a free ride around the Bay Area — something that's relatively easy to do given the structure of the stations' stiles.

Just how many free riders are there? We set up a camera at 16th Street Mission Station Thursday starting around 3 p.m. to see for ourselves.

Some fare evaders are easy to spot. They launched their legs over closed gates, swung open emergency exit doors, or shoved gates open to pass — all in plain view of the camera. Others were a little sneakier, following close behind another rider without scanning a Clipper card or inserting a paper ticket. Or if fare gates became stuck open, some riders would just walk through without paying.

In total we saw 90 appear to evade fares in just over 90 minutes, after reviewing 1 hour and 32 minutes of footage.

"Do you see the seamlessness? They're like cockroaches," one BART station agent at 16th Street Mission Station told our crew as we watched passenger after passenger exit without paying. "They're shameless and they're professional about it. They do it every day."

A man jumps the turnstile at the BART station at Civic Center despite gates that were installed (seen at left and right) to deter fare evasion in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. A man jumps the turnstile at the BART station at Civic Center despite gates that were installed (seen at left and right) to deter fare evasion in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close How bad is BART fare evasion? We saw 90 people in 92 minutes slip through the gates 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

Eighteen of those evaders are what we called "jumpers," who leaped over the gates. Another 72 were "sliders" who tailgated behind other riders or slipped through the cracks.

It is possible there were more cases we didn't catch. There were about a dozen instances caught on camera that we thought were too close to call as definitive fare evasion. We also weren't watching the elevators, which at some stations can be used to skip payment since they descend from street level to platform without requiring a ticket.

Why don't station agents intervene? It's not their job, BART spokesperson Alicia Trost told SFGATE.

"In the past, we've had incidents where station agents do intervene and they're assaulted by fare evaders," Trost said.

Station agents' job is essentially to provide customer service: help with ticket issues, monitor any escalator or elevator issues and evacuate the station in case of emergency. They're not meant to go after gate jumpers — for their safety and for the safety of riders.

"Station agents are not police officers. They are not tasked with enforcing ordinances and penal codes. That's the job of BART police officers," Trost said.

Keep in mind the fact we were watching the fare gates at just one of BART's 48 stations, for only a small portion of one afternoon. An estimated 22,000 people ride BART without paying every day.

It's easy to see how station agents may feel helpless to fight fare cheats, a problem that's thought to cost BART up to $25 million every year.

Past attempts to crack down fare evaders haven't gone so well. In 2016 the transit agency bolted shut many of the swinging doors at San Francisco stations often use to skip fares, but it was deemed a fire code violation and they were ordered to reopen.

Earlier this year the agency hired six community service officers to act as fare inspectors — to the tune of $740,000 — to issue tickets to cheating riders. They cited 1,300 offenders in two months, but only about 100 of them paid up, so the effort ended up costing more than it recouped.

The latest plan to stop the bleeding of funds is to replace 600 fare gates with ones that are harder to jump over or slip through — though the upgrade won't come cheap, either. The agency is projecting a cost of $150 to $200 million and there's no timeline for the overhaul yet. Trost says BART is conducting a study and will deliver the results to the board next spring. It'll be up to them how to proceed.

In the meantime, BART is taking a station-by-station approach to combating fare evasion in other ways. Trost says it is adding alarms to some emergency exit gates and relocating others to more visible areas so they can't be used with the same impunity. As budget allows, the transit agency is also trying to add features that make it harder to use elevators to dodge payment, like fencing that forces riders to enter the paid area to use an elevator.

But of course, even these smaller projects come at a cost.

"Every single thing we're talking about costs money. So it can't be done overnight."

SFGATE staff writer Drew Costley and San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Rachel Swan and Michael Cabanatuan contributed to this report.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.

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