The MTA started deploying unarmed gate guards across New York City’s expansive subway system in 2022 in an effort to shut down a “superhighway of fare evasion” — emergency exit gates.
Since then, the agency has expanded the program as part of a broader effort to enhance safety and deter turnstile-jumpers, which costs the agency around $800 million a year.
MTA officials said that the primary role of guards, all contracted through a private security company called Allied Universal, is to provide a visible security presence that acts as a deterrent to farebeaters.
The guards are deployed to 264 of the 472 subway stations throughout the NYC subway system. They are assigned to work outside emergency exit gates, as farebeaters often walk right through when the door is open for paying customers.
But beyond being a gatekeeper stopping gatecrashers, what exactly are the guard’s duties while on patrol?
Unlike their deputized law enforcement counterparts, the guards are not authorized to make arrests or carry firearms. Instead, they are expected to report incidents to uniformed MTA staff or NYPD personnel when necessary.
Essentially, the 957 active guards are the “eyes and ears” of fare evasion for the MTA, agency staff told amNewYork.
A gate guard on assignment at Midtown’s Penn Station.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
With nearly 1,000 gate guards on the job, amNewYork asked the MTA how many reports the guards have made since the program started three years ago. The MTA has yet to provide a response.
According to a report in The City last year, several gate guards told the online news outlet that they had been told to avoid confrontations with possible fare beaters.
However, the MTA says otherwise. The agency wrote in its 2022 Blue Ribbon Panel report, which addresses fare and toll evasion, that civilian guards are to direct customers to turnstiles, instead of exiting the station through the gates.
“If a customer approaches who has an apparent reason to exit via the emergency exit gate – a wheelchair, a stroller, a large suitcase – then the guard stands aside and lets the customer exit, closing the gate as soon as the passenger has exited,” the report states. “If the customer does not have an apparent reason to exit through the gate, then the guard asks the customer to step over to the turnstile and exit there instead. The emergency exit gate stays closed.”
The strategy is designed to keep the emergency exit closed as much as possible.
“The gate guards pilot is a way of deterring fare evasion with a civilian nudge rather than a police intervention,” the report continues.
Have gate guards been successful in combating fare evasion?
The MTA says yes.
“Overall, subway fare evasion is down 29% this year, and where there are gate guards at stations, it’s down 36%,” MTA Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel told amNewYork in a statement last week. “Evasion rates on buses have also fallen in every quarter since the second quarter of 2024 despite rising ridership. We have no plans to let up on this crusade any time soon.”
Patel is likely onto something. amNewYork conducted an unscientific observation of the gate guards in action at Midtown’s Penn Station on a recent Monday.
During the 30-minute visit to America’s busiest transit hub, countless New Yorkers — and likely tourists — traversed through the turnstiles at the 34th Street and 8th Avenue entrance.
Everyone paid, no one beat the fare, as two diligent guards watched the throng of commuters enter the system.
A similar scenario rang true at a smaller, community station in Queens. On that same Monday, amNewYork visited the 61st Street-Woodside 7 train and Long Island Rail Road station. Using the same allotted time of 30 minutes, no one beat the fare as a gate guard stood by the turnstiles.
However, the station this year has proven to be a hotspot for fare evasion. Turnstile hoppers were spotted on multiple occasions beating the fare. Though the MTA took action by installing anti-evasion barriers on the station’s turnstiles last month, it did not seem to slow down the evaders, per amNewYork observations.
Criticism of the $5 million-a-month gate guard program
The idea for gate guards sprang from the Blue Ribbon Panel that prioritizes education, equity, enforcement, and environment — what the MTA panel calls “the four E’s” when it comes to fare and toll evasion.
A gate guard at the emergency exit near turnstiles in Penn Station.
According to the MTA, the civilian gate guards cost the agency around $5 million a month. Allied Universal won the contract through a competitive bid.
Although it is not clear how much the guards themselves get paid, the New York Post reported in May that they make up to $25 an hour. Security guards citywide are historically underpaid, according to a recent study that found most make roughly 40% of the city’s area median income.
amNewYork contacted Allied Universal for comment on this story, but is awaiting a response.
Meanwhile, transit users across the city expressed skepticism and criticism about the effectiveness of unarmed personnel in deterring evasion.
“They stand around and do nothing,” commuter Andy said. “Yet, they are being paid. Not cost-effective.”
But another commuter, named Ed from Queens, said he supports the guard program.
“Anything that helps with fare evasion is a plus,” he said. “A guard might just be enough to stop some people.”
Meanwhile, as New Yorkers go along their daily commutes, the unarmed gate guards continue to be a visible component of the MTA’s continuous effort to battle fare evasion.