WASHINGTON — Five-foot gates, aimed at curbing fare evasion, have been installed at all 98 DMV Metro stations, Metro Transit officials said Thursday.
The announcement comes 14 months after the first fare evasion gates were installed at the Fort Totten Station in July 2023.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said they believe these gates have been responsible for an 82% drop in fare theft since last summer.
"We have seen incredible results from the taller faregates," Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said. "We are never going to completely stop fare evasion, but these go a long way in addressing the problem."
On Metrobuses, fareboxes also aim to curb evasions as the system are -- according to WMATA -- less likely to malfunction while users are trying to pay.
These upgrades which have cash and SmartTap features, have now been installed on all 1,500 Metrobuses.
Another leg of the DMV-wide crack down has been a nearly 300% increase in the number of tickets and citations written by by Metro Transit Police in 2024, as compared to figures from last year. 10,000 fare evasion citations were issued in 2024.
READ NEXT: