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NYC Subways Testing Out AI Technology To Track Fare Evaders 

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New York City’s MTA has consistently blamed the design of the subway system and its turnstiles for rampant fare evasion. Now, three companies are fighting to take control over a $1.1 billion contract to redesign the turnstiles.

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These firms have already installed new fare gates with tall doors as opposed to the more well-known waist-high turnstiles. These doors have been installed at 10 subway stations throughout the last two months as part of a testing period for a pilot program. 

The program is also currently set to expand to 20 different subway stations within the next coming weeks, according to MTA Chair Janno Lieber while she testified at a state budget hearing in Albany this week. 

At least two of the three companies have stated that their designs utilize some level of artificial intelligence technology to track fare evaders. 

Cubic is the company that constructed most of the modern fare gates that are currently installed in the subway, as well as the now-retired MetroCard system. The company, however, has come under fire from MTA officials for delays and bugs with the rollout of the MTA’s new OMNY tap-to-pay system, according to the Gothamist. 

MTA Chair Janno Lieber stated during the hearing: 

“Cubic has not been a perfect partner and software developer and we ride them every day, all day. So we think most of it has been worked out, but there’s a couple of kinks we’re still working through, to be honest.”

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Anthony Louh, Cibic’s director of business development, stated that the “hiccups” with the OMNY rollout have better prepared the company for taking on the new redesign contract. 

Cubic’s new gates are also currently being tested at busy stations like Atlantic Terminal and Port Authority. They stated their intentions to add them to 125th Street station on the A, B, C, and D lines. 

In terms of the use of AI, the gates have surveillance technology that are automatically meant to issue an alert whenever a fare is evaded. The officials for Cubic said that the equipment has cameras that record a five-second clip when someone doesn’t pay. The AI mechanism writes a physical description of the individual and then sends it to the MTA.

Conduent and STraffic are the other two companies fighting for the contract, and have also installed modern fare gates in subway stations that are currently being used. 

Conduent specifically has its own form of AI technology as well that utilizes sensors to collect data on people who evade fares, according to reports. 

“The pilot program continues and results will be reviewed at the appropriate time, with the vendors selected to supply fare gates for the future,” MTA spokesperson Eugene Resnick wrote. 

The MTA is hoping to install new entry points at 150 of the subway’s 472 stations.

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New Yorkers React To New $3 MTA Fare For City’s Buses And Subways 

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The fare to ride New York City’s subways and buses increased to $3 this past weekend. Many residents and commuters are reacting poorly to this 10-cent increase, as their subway and bus rides are a major daily expense throughout the year. 

Tom Nimen, a commuter who travels from Crown Heights to Union Square station, told the Gothamist that this fare increase is greatly impactful for daily commuters, especially considering the actual services throughout the MTA are barely improving. 

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“ I’ve been living in New York for going on 50 years now and for all the fare increases, I think the subway service is lackluster at best. There were times I could not afford that. There were times I used to choose between food and a subway fare. I’m not in that situation anymore, but others are not.” Nimen stated. 

The MTA board has chosen to increase fares incrementally every two years as opposed to waiting longer and incrementally surging prices with double-digit hikes that other train systems in the region experience. This particular increase has been cited to combat inflation and increased operating costs. 

In regards to the service quality that Nimen was referring to, Governor Kathy Hochul released data last week that cited the subway trains being on time 83.7% of the time on an average weekday in 2025; marking a 2.1% increase from 2024. On the average weekend day in 2025, subway trains were on time 86.6% of the time; a 2.4% increase from 2024. 

The MTA data also revealed that there were 1.3 billion total trips on the subway in 2025. This marks a 7% increase from 2024 and 85% of its pre-pandemic ridership totals. Commuters on Sunday said that better performance from the subway doesn’t really make up for their frustrations with the higher fare. 

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“ I just feel like that if you’re gonna pay $3, we better have world-class service now. I still see rats on the subway. I still see a lot of track work being done,” said Ian Ward, 28, to the Gothamist. 

Besides the fare increase, the MTA has also fully transitioned away from their iconic yellow and blue Metrocards to OMNY, a tap-to-pay system, starting on New Years Day. The agency also began a new pilot program testing out modern fare gates to dissuade from fare evasion. 

Express bus fares also went from $7 to $7.25 and weekly and monthly tickets on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North went up 4.5%. Tolls on all nine MTA operated bridges and tunnels increased 7.5%. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that New Yorkers are continuously burdened by cost in the five boroughs when he was asked about the increase in fares at a news conference. 

“When the fare was $2.90, one in five New Yorkers were being priced out of it. We know that for so many New Yorkers, public transit is increasingly becoming out of reach,” he stated.