MTA to re-tool subway turnstiles to stop fare evasion through 'back-cocking'

The MTA plans to modify every one of the city’s subway turnstiles to prevent riders from evading the fare through a maneuver called “back-cocking.”

“We’ve all seen it,” senior vice president of subways Demetrius Crichlow said during a committee meeting on Monday. “Someone pulls back on the bar just far enough to step over it when reversing to go in the forward direction.”

Officials said turnstiles will be re-tooled to make it nearly impossible for riders to back-cock. The turnstiles will be redesigned to make a half-rotation whenever they’re pulled in the opposite direction, preventing riders from tilting them back ever so slightly to squeeze through without paying.

Officials said 26 turnstiles have been overhauled so far this year, and the change will come to another 240 by the end of September — and eventually plans to back-cock-proof every one of its 3,479 turnstiles across the city’s 472 subway stations.

The news of the change comes two months after the MTA published a report that estimated the agency lost $690 million last year to fare evasion. The agency said about $285 million of those losses came from fare evasion on the subways — and officials on Monday said back-cocking alone cost the agency $45.6 million.

The change to the remaining turnstiles will cost the MTA $1.8 million, officials said.

“Even if we get a portion of that back, it’ll save the MTA time and money,” Crichlow said.

During the committee meeting, MTA leaders showed surveillance footage from the Bowling Green subway station where a would-be fare evaders tried and failed to back-cock.

“As you can see, it definitely works,” said Crichlow. “It doesn’t stop them from seeking other means of fare-evading, but it definitely does stop the back-cocking.”

The MTA is also exploring other modifications to subway fare gates, like “sleeves” and “vertical fins” on turnstile arms that makes it more difficult to jump over them.

The MTA also removed 1,620 locks at emergency gates, which all have the same FDNY-issued key that some fare-evaders were able to make copies of at hardware stores. The Fire Department is now using keys that can’t be duplicated, officials said.