51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� MetroLink has now installed turnstiles at nearly one-third of the 38 stations in the light rail system, part of a $52 million security upgrade.

But the gates don鈥檛 fully work. Security guards have to man every one, opening them for each passenger.

And the new fare system that will automatically open gates when customers present their tickets won鈥檛 be online until early next year.

鈥淚n their current state, the gates are worse than useless,鈥� Silas Johnson, a Washington University lecturer who frequents MetroLink, said in an email. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make any sense to me why MetroLink wouldn鈥檛 just leave them (open) until the card readers are ready.鈥�

The move is part of a push to improve not only safety but the perception of safety after high-profile crimes on the system. It鈥檚 one of the first times an open system, standard for light rail networks in the U.S., has been enclosed, making it more like the nation鈥檚 big city subway systems. It has also created problems here.

Metro security head Kevin Scott apologized for the issues, saying Metro is adding better signage to make it clear that passengers, when they reach an unmanned gate, can use the assistance button to speak with someone at the real-time camera center, where an employee can open the gate remotely.

But Scott said Metro had 鈥渁bsolutely not鈥� considered leaving gates open until the new fare payment system is active.

鈥淲e wanted to show the region a tangible result,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of investment in this project, both public and private. And we wanted to put a system in place knowing that the fare collection integration is probably several paces behind.鈥�

He advises riders to allow extra time.

And that鈥檚 been frustrating for riders.

Johnson, the WashU lecturer, in March returned to 51黑料 from Chicago on Amtrak, but when he got off the train downtown and walked to the adjacent Civic Center station to catch a MetroLink home, there was no security guard manning the gate.

Johnson tried the call button, but there was no answer. He finally snuck through as other passengers exited the station.

And Johnson said he nearly missed a train on another recent trip, while trying to flag down a guard to open the gate.

鈥淚 personally have rarely if ever felt unsafe on MetroLink,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the gates don鈥檛 change anything except to add inconvenience.鈥�

MetroLink, since its opening in 1993, has had security guards checking passengers鈥� tickets at any time, which is standard on the nation鈥檚 light-rail systems. No physical infrastructure previously prevented riders without tickets from boarding. When the system opened in 1993, the Post-Dispatch reported that about 1 in 3 passengers could expect to have their fares checked each day, a far higher rate than riders have reported in recent years.

30-minute delays

For Margaret Smith, whose commute from south 51黑料 to Edwardsville involves a MetroLink train and three buses, the gates sometime slow her already long commute. She has missed trains when guards, sometimes leaving their post to take shelter from inclement weather, are slow to open fare gates.

Her two-hour commute can become at least 30 minutes longer when a turnstile snafu pops up.

鈥淩egardless of where one stands on the necessity of fare gates, the implementation was poorly planned and is worsening commuters鈥� experiences without any real payout for the foreseeable future,鈥� Smith wrote in an email.

Riders also take issue with the way the project cut off pedestrian access to the Gateway Transportation Center, the city-owned Amtrak and intercity bus terminal. Turnstiles at the Civic Center MetroLink station closed the direct route from the Amtrak station to 14th Street and most of downtown.

That means, for out-of-town baseball fans taking Amtrak to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium, what was a 12-minute walk is now 20 minutes via a far more desolate and much less obvious route.

Additionally, the ramp from the MetroLink platform to Enterprise Center next door was also closed due to turnstile placement.

Scott, the Metro security chief, acknowledged the problems but defended the decisions.

鈥淚n a nutshell, we鈥檝e secured our property,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淚f you come from Greyhound and you have a transit ticket to ride MetroLink or to get on MetroBus, you鈥檙e allowed to pass through to connect. If you are passing through our property just to get to the Enterprise Center, that is not acceptable.鈥�

Moreover, he said, Metro has seen 鈥渁 significant reduction鈥� in loitering and trespassing at the gated stations.

Upgrades to the real-time camera center have been part of the secure platform plan. The 1,200 cameras and monitoring center have 鈥減aid enormous dividends for us already,鈥� Scott said.

Gates weren鈥檛 recommended

The plan to install turnstiles was decided in 2021 despite a consulting firm studying MetroLink security and not recommend them.

WSP USA Inc. found little correlation between fare evasion and serious crime. WSP did recommend the upgrades to the surveillance system.

Private donors, led by Enterprise Holdings, have contributed $10.4 million to the project.

The upgrades include a new fare collection system, new ticket vending machines, a Metro app as well as the system鈥檚 first full-fledged fare card after the previous attempt 鈥渇ailed.鈥�

Metro pushed forward with the gates, noting it was to improve not only safety but the perception of safety.

show crime in decline before the gates were installed, with a 41% decrease in incidents in the last six months of 2024 vs. the same time period a year prior. Last year, there were an average of 7 incidents per 100,000 boardings.

The lack of public engagement is a sore spot for some. Metro met with more than 30 individuals and organizations, held two in-person open houses and hosted another virtually.

Michael Allen, a former longtime resident and lecturer at Washington University who recently began teaching at West Virginia University, blasted Metro in an opinion piece titled 鈥�.鈥�

鈥淚n 2024, MetroLink recorded 7,135,000 rides,鈥� Allen wrote. 鈥淢etro did worse than a bare minimum to poll the system鈥檚 actual users. That is a quantifiable contemptuous attitude.鈥�