51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Responding to complaints from passengers, Metro Transit on Thursday said newly installed turnstiles at MetroLink stations will remain open from now on whenever security guards leave them unattended.

The revised policy went into effect immediately, Metro said in a statement.

鈥淭his change will help ensure customers are not delayed and can make their MetroLink and MetroBus connections on time,鈥� the transit agency said in an online post.

As part of a $52 million security upgrade, Metro last year began installing turnstiles at its 38 stations across 51黑料, 51黑料 County and St. Clair County. So far, the new gates are in place at 11 of them.

But because a new fare system that will automatically open the gates when customers present tickets won鈥檛 be operating until early next year, Metro security guards have been manning them and opening each gate, in the meantime.

That鈥檚 left riders complaining that they sometimes encounter gates with no security guards in sight to check their tickets and let them through to the train platform.

In such situations, Metro had said passengers could use an assistance button to speak with someone at its real-time camera center, where an employee can open the gate remotely.

One MetroLink rider told the Post-Dispatch that he tried the call button but there was no answer.

Under Metro鈥檚 revised policy, if a guard assigned to a station鈥檚 gates needs to leave to check on something, the guard will notify the real-time camera center and workers there will hold one gate open remotely until the guard returns.

Margaret Smith, a frequent rider, on Thursday lauded Metro鈥檚 decision.

鈥淚 do think it鈥檚 a huge improvement, and a testament to the power of community action,鈥� said Smith, of 51黑料.

Smith still hoped Metro would improve communication with riders, and also worried about the gates鈥� effectiveness.

Citizens for Modern Transit, a local transit booster group, said Metro announced the new policy after the group held an online forum on the new security system.

The forum was held, the group said, in response to transit riders鈥� 鈥渃oncerns and frustrations鈥� with the rollout of the new MetroLink security measures.

Kevin Scott, Metro鈥檚 security chief, last month had said the agency would add better signage on the use of the assistance button in situations in which guards aren鈥檛 on hand.

Scott said Thursday this typically happens when a guard is asked to address some security issue on the platform itself or on a train. On average, he said, such occurrences happen two or three times a day across all 11 stations.

The ticket gate program reverses Metro鈥檚 longstanding policy of relying on fare enforcement conducted by roving security personnel on the trains.

Under that system, which MetroLink had used since it began operating in 1993, riders have been required to produce time-stamped tickets or passes when asked to do so. That鈥檚 common for most light rail operations in North America.

The security plan also includes items such as an upgraded camera system and extensive station fencing. The bulk of the funding came from local and federal funds, while $10.4 million was from private donors.

Officials at the Bi-State Development Agency, which runs Metro, decided in 2021 to install turnstiles even though they weren鈥檛 recommended by a consulting firm that was hired to study MetroLink security following several high-profile crimes on the rail line.

The consultant, WSP USA Inc., said there wasn鈥檛 much correlation between serious crime and fare evasion. WSP recommended other steps, which Bi-State/Metro have mostly adopted, such as the expanded camera network.

But agency officials, led by Bi-State CEO Taulby Roach, have said the new turnstiles will make passengers feel more secure and are needed to help build ridership.

Ethan Erickson of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.