How to Beat Every Turnstile in the Northeast

[@MilesinTransit]

Oh boy, new Alex Davis upload!! Huh, this seems oddly familiar...

[@brayand8022]

My question is this, what is with you guys and snider's???

[@stephenkeever6029]

@@brayand8022 Snyders of Hanover is the best!

[@Mpugs]

@@brayand8022 whats with the snyders hate

[@Mpugs]

something seems oddly similar to another channel

[@TheChrisLeone]

​@@MpugsWhich one?

[@timothyschollux]

Kudos to Erica to join you on this mission to make this video feel like a Miles video

[@B3Band]

They look like twin siblings

[@richardavsmith]

Now that is a fun fact

[@BenriBea]

Imagine thinking you found your new favorite jazz station just for it to start making subway announcements

[@alexwithclipboard]

I think for most of the people in this comment section, that might actually be a positive.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

@@alexwithclipboard Exactly! Smooth jazz and transit in one is the best of both worlds!

[@simpulacra]

erica calling tuna cat treats for girls and you calling it terrorism is so insanely funny to me lmao I've never seen another video of yours but i need her in all of them haha

[@B3Band]

They look like twin siblings

[@PuzzlingRailfanatic]

Alex won the great April Fool's 2024 KZbin urbanist foamer social experiment (I'm sorry Stormy, Classy, and Miles, I love y'all toooooo ♥)

[@Ostermond]

“Cat treats for girls” AND SHE’S RIGHT

[@Ruth-tu9mu]

SHE’S SO RIGHT I love those things 😂

[@TriegaDN]

I stock up on those pretty often so this makes sense to me!

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Glad you mentioned PATCO as the first Great Society metro, because the fact it opened in 1969 and had ATO before BART did in 1972 is a NJ feat! Not to mention the views from PATCO of the skyline when going over Ben Franklin Bridge are wonderful and makes it a NJ gem! Appreciate that you went to Charles Center in Baltimore! The guy who worked on the neon at Charles Center in Baltimore was Stephen Antonakos. He's done neon work for stations in Los Angeles (Pershing Square; this commemorates how the first neon sign in the United States was posted around the corner from Pershing Square in 1924), Detroit (Greektown on the DPM), Athens, and the Exchange Place PATH station in Jersey City! He's also done work for Hartsfield Jackson Airport and for a power station in Tel Aviv. He was a WWII veteran, serving in the Philippines. He died at age 86 back in 2013. I know Calatrava's Oculus at WTC is controversial, but honestly, I think it's stunning. Whenever I walk into Grand Central Terminal, it's a breathtaking experience, and I get that same feeling walking into the Oculus. And that was the inspiration for Calatrava, he wanted to emulate Grand Central Terminal. He wanted to give a building to the community for a place like Ground Zero, a monument to the community, a symbol of the camaraderie of the American people, something that celebrates the day-to-day with the people, not to think this part of NYC is a somber place, but a place that keeps moving forward! Also, Hoboken Terminal is one of my favorite stations because of the clock tower, the multiple transit modes that meet there, the movies filmed there like Julie & Julia and Muppets Take Manhattan (when Kermit said goodbye to Miss Piggy while she was on the train), and its firsts like one of the first installations of central air-conditioning in a public space or the first non-experimental use of mobile phones.

[@alanthefisher]

Noticed how you avoided politics of free fare transit discourse lol

[@alexwithclipboard]

That's very true. Didn't want to mess up the Miles aesthetic. If I got into policy analysis, I might mention the fact that security guards have to stop a fare evasion every 5 minutes in order to offset the cost of their own salary. If we want to rescue those fares, we need a thin plexiglass sheet, not a thin blue line. By the way, I can't wait to go "explore" those new SEPTA faregates at 13th St. They look pretty giga-goated to me. Maybe I've met my match.

[@ClassyWhale]

I still don't understand how you and your friend ate 3x as much Ethiopian food as me and Kalkidan 😂

[@alexwithclipboard]

IDK, but now there's no way David and I are squeezing through those PATCO gates.

[@Ratcher.]

now this is next level, not copying a video but stealing video assets I'm all for it. the turnstile jumping of video editing.

[@Njndirish13]

More transit agencies should have radio stations playing smooth jazz.

[@commercialcritic4676]

Sweet!

[@thatpersonsmusic]

Random Kei truck spotted at 4:04. I have a strange love for those things

[@PaulFisher]

5:55 “Defeated, but at what cost?” $0, that’s the entire point

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

I honestly love the artwork done at 5th Street/Independence Hall, as touristy as it is, though my favorite subway tile job remains 81st Street-Museum of Natural History because of how much it embraces the museum like replicating the ocean or Earth's strata! The artwork at 5th Street/Independence Hall was done by Tom Judd and has different historical paintings (not actual paintings, but rather paintings he replicated, including painting the frames) referencing Philly's history. Judd’s guiding concept came from Charles Willson Peale, Philadelphia’s gentleman polymath who created the first museum in the early 19th century, a hodge-podge collection of natural science and art. One of his most famous paintings is of himself lifting a curtain to reveal his collected treasures. He was also inspired by Union Pacific station in SLC and how its vast spaces and murals incorporated in its architecture lent awe to his arrival. He wanted to lend a similar air to the tourists and commuters taking the train into Old City. About that ship in Baltimore, during WWII, the WHEC-37 (formerly known as the Taney; named after the controversial Roger B. Taney who was Chief Justice under Andrew Jackson and thus ruled over the Dred Scott v. Sanford case) saw action in both theaters of combat, serving as a command ship at the Battle of Okinawa and as a fleet escort in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. The ship also took part in Operation Market Time during the Vietnam War. When I first visited in Baltimore in 2010, I got to visit Fort McHenry on the way back to the NYC metro from a boy scout jamboree in Virginia. It was right in time for a flag ceremony, and I had the opportunity to hold the folded flag and walk to give it to a ranger. Doing that at the location where the national anthem honoring the flag was written...it was an experience. Something neat about Fort McHenry besides the national anthem is that it has become national tradition that when a new flag is designed it first flies over Fort McHenry.

[@josephmassaua5486]

i miss the old WMATA gates...they have saved me hundreds

[@HarryLovesRuth]

To Erica: I too hate being photographed/filmed. So solidarity. That said, you are as cute as a button, and your sacrifice is appreciated. Tuna packets in an enclosed space are terrorism, though. That's just facts.

[@B3Band]

They look like twin siblings

[@Studio23Media]

@@B3BandIt's really weird the amount of times you've commented this... 🥴

[@yukaira]

now that is a fun fact

[@lamegaming9835]

the king has returned from battle

[@JacksonBetz]

This is a great video Alex!!! I know it's an April Fool's Day joke, but it serves a useful purpose by demonstrating to transit agencies how easy it is to jump over their fare gates (something many agencies, like SEPTA, have been working to prevent recently)! I hope this falls into the right hands and that some changes can come from it :)

[@simpulacra]

fair evasion is normal and good. public transit should be free and should be stolen until they are forced to make it free :)

[@JacksonBetz]

​@@simpulacra actually no

[@owenhenry6712]

@@simpulacra you think they would just maintain the same service levels and make it free if you "forced" them to by stealing? be serious

[@simpulacra]

​​@@owenhenry6712 it is extremely possible and the morally correct thing to do to fully fund public transit and it's really weird to pretend otherwise. not paying for something you can not afford and which should be free with the demand it be tax funded is non violent protest and extremely good to do.

[@jeder6915]

@@simpulacra having fare system actually means they have customers that want better experience, no fare system means they literally don't care about improving anything because they will get the money anyway. welcome to capitalist hellhole that is Earth

[@Canleaf08]

In Germany you just can flash a random eticket card and every bus driver and conductor assumes you have a Deutschlandticket. No faregates. But punishment without a fare can be cruel and a lot of people are jailed for this.

[@roadmaster935]

Unfortunately true, yes. Random QR Code from some ticket app also works in most cases. I'm a bus driver myself and I started properly inspecting tickets when I have the time to do it. The excuses people make up when being caught with a ticket that expired two years ago and not even belonging to them are wild xD

[@TransitAndTeslas]

@@roadmaster935Do they not SCAN the QR codes? Here in my system if you use a QR code you have to hold it up to a scanner.

[@erik_griswold]

Photos in PATH is like pledging your soul to bin Laden.

[@jandraelune1]

" One does not ride trains just to ride trains ", umm, yes 2 KZbinrs does in fact do that. Geoff Marshall, he does it so often that the British transit authority even sponsors him now and has used his voice for some on train announcements. MilesInTransit, posts the travel times of all the transit in his area.

[@bernardschmitt6389]

I like that all the transit channels are slowing just turning into Miles.

[@augusthoyt8447]

Also in NYC, the emergency exit doors at every exit are often used in normal situations, so while you can’t open them from the outside you can just walk through when people exit

[@TheChrisLeone]

3:17 "DO NOT GIVE ANYONE YOUR PHONE" Welcome to New Jersey 😂

[@Col_Crunch]

The thing about the turnstiles is that unless they are higher than waist height... I wouldn't even need to jump, I would literally just step over them.

[@Terranallias18]

WMATA mentioned

[@sammymarrco2]

best metro/subway whatever u wanna call it in the US.

[@nickphilipson7910]

Is Toronto midwest

[@alexwithclipboard]

Yes

[@ClassyWhale]

Wait why were you and Erica in Lancaster? ;)

[@Ice_Karma]

3:01 I believe the word you're looking for is "eminently". ♥

[@alexwithclipboard]

www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/eminent-imminent-immanent-difference-usage

[@kackagamingTRASH]

Erica is supercool! She's perfect for the camera haha

[@garyyeung3909]

This is the such unique content I never seen anyone else done this kind of content in the transit community!

[@bobapplebob9695]

9:08 Oh hey, it's the silver spring metro! Also maybe I'm just a dork but Erica seems just fine on camera to me

[@RStoelinga]

It's so wierd seeing half these systems not have a check out as that greatly decreases the effort for gate jumpers. Over here in the Netherlands we have some smaller/older stations without gates aswell (just a pole to check in), but then you end up locked behind gates at your final station with a €10 fine as soon as you try to check out. It seems like such a simple fix, wierd that it is not industry standard yet

[@sammymarrco2]

DC metro is similar, you have to tap out as well as in.

[@stephenkeever6029]

Well that was fun! I really hope you post again before another April Fools rolls around in a year.

[@rustledjammies8769]

Can't believe I missed this video. You need to upload more often dude. From across the pond, you're awesome!

[@Canleaf08]

Montreal also has those pathetic DC flap styled gates at some stations.

[@jiiiid2983]

Montreal Mentioned! 🥳

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

I technically committed fare evasion at Aquarium because the gates' card sensors were not working so someone on the other side let us through, only to find out only one had an actual working card reader*

[@Token_Nerd]

It took an April fools joke to get you to return...

[@eliminmax]

You seem like the type of person who would talk about how easy it would be to copy the key to a locked classroom with a laser cutter inside and use your copy instead of waiting for the teacher, just because you can.

[@alexwithclipboard]

Yeah, hypothetically speaking.

[@Snoopod]

He's back! Most underrated transit youtube channel. High quality as usual, entertaining, informative

[@tmbottegal]

You should’ve tried the Pittsburgh T. You scan ONCE YOU GET ON THE CARS.

[@RailBuffRob]

Another issue SEPTA has at some stations is that they'll have an elevator that goes from street level to the area just outside the fare gates. The same elevator also has a second door to allow people to go from the paid zone to one of the platforms, essentially using one 3-atorey elevator as functionally two smaller elevators. If you step in at street level and wait for someone on the platform to call it, you ride the elevator right past the fare gates.

[@slserenader]

The "unbeatable" turnstile at 11:26 - I've actually gotten through those before. I literally climbed up the bars to the ceiling of the station and just climbed down the other side. This was actually at a more secured septa station in philly along their regional rail line.

[@granograno]

Man I miss the old turnstiles in New York. You could hop them in a one smooth swing without your shoulders rising more than a couple inches. If you pulled the stile toward you, you could slip past without even turning sideways much. Pretty much just looked like you went through normal. And you didn't need a pocket full of tokens to get around!

[@farLander1]

Love your videos, man. Every time. Makes me wish I were spending my early 20s hanging out with friends/"foaming" on the NEC, for better or for worse...

[@Mike__B]

The fact that one region refers to paying fare as a "dummy tax" really does highlight why more effort needs to be put into stopping fare evasion.

[@Shane_Shaney]

Now, it’s time for a bathroom review!

[@alexwithclipboard]

The bathroom remains locked permanently due to recurring problems with vandalism and drug abuse, and the agency generally not wanting to worry about it. 1 out of 10 for technically existing.

[@rustledjammies8769]

The barriers @ 4:52 are the exact ones in the UK! The gates don't generally go that high though. There's now a bit added to the front to allow for contactless payments, however some services (Stansted Express (London Liverpool Street to London Stansted Airport) especially) rather controversially not accepting them or the London Oystercard, as valid payment (technically a break of contract), meaning people get fined on the other side. For the Stansted Express at least, this has been an issue since at least 2019, with at least 16,000 fines issued every year, most very likely for this exact thing!

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

I too appreciate the sound they chose for when the doors open and close on the REM! It's literally like you're logging into Windows 98 REM edition. Chef's kiss. I also like that on the Montreal Metro, the melody of the MR-73 when the doors close purposefully matches the starting motor traction sounds of the trains! The REM is such a cool system! Building not just an elevated system, but one with platform screen doors is not only protecting people between stations with the complete grade-separation and inside stations with the platform screen doors, but also no accidents with cars would occur! And of course, you're saving money by not tunneling! Not to mention, elevated trains are an iconic part of urban cultures, like the L in Chicago and the 7 in Queens! REM will make the lives of Montrealers and those in its suburbs way better! And something I also like about REM is that it has highway median stations that aren't bad, which the system's platform screen doors help a lot. Du Quartier is next to a highway but it was built to have access to the Dix30 shopping mall and there's nice housing too. Generally speaking, I'm okay with new service to suburbs being built through the highway. Highway stations don't have to be bad, and utilizing highways is a good tool to make good transit in a lot of cases. The LIRR's Babylon Branch aren't median stations as it opened in the 1860s before Sunrise Highway, but Sunrise Highway is the reason why the LIRR chose to elevate the branch starting in the 1950s and ending in 1980 with Massapequa Park so it wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of grade crossings! The parking lures people off the highway and different NICE and Suffolk Transit buses serve the stations as well, with the addition of Jones Beach bus service from Freeport making it possible to go to Jones Beach concerts by transit.

[@a-ramenartist9734]

thank you supreme leader, may your wisdom continue to guide us

[@owentsao6989]

Many of the NYC ones you can sneak around, just some in major stations have had the gears adjusted so you can’t anymore and have to hop over

[@mysteryman7877]

I wondered what the smooth jazz was about

[@georgekarnezis4311]

Dang it Alex. where was the lofty speech about how Fair evasion isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be and how more systems need to be faregate free validation style. please make the case for us in st louis that these new full height turnstiles degrade the passenger experience. God my grandchildren will never believe me when it tell them that you could get on a train without having to walk through a gate.

[@shreychaudhary4477]

If you're ever in the Bay Area check out the BART faregates at west oakland!

[@bnywtrains9482]

0:59 those honey chex mix bags go hard 🔥

[@alexwithclipboard]

But they're not Snyder's. That's the problem.

[@g-Elevators675]

This video is really nice. Also, the only way to evade the WMATA gates that are shown is to get up onto the side of one of the gates and crawl over, like what was demonstrated. If WMATA added solid frames around the side and tops of these gates, it would suppress even this method of evading, and therefore would be truly impassable. They would be the second type of fare gate/turnstile like this, after the revolving ones used in the NYC Subway.

[@Decopunk1927]

Some stations in Boston are even easier to fare-evade than the one you demonstrated: the Green Line Extension has no faregates at all, just a Charlie vending machine jankily rigged up to dispense validation tickets that no conductor ever inspects. Boarding the GLX is de facto free.

[@grahamturner2640]

I wonder if proof of payment fare systems are better at dealing with fare evasion, as there isn’t the immediate assumption that someone paid their fare to board the train.

[@elijaha773]

I was expecting Alex to discuss this at the end, or at least talk about how European and Asian cities deal with fare evasion.

[@stevenroshni1228]

proof of payment systems don't work when it's too crowded,

[@MassbyTrain]

Erica is great to have around

[@scottydude456]

I will always endorse filming on PATH. Fuck the port authority

[@elijaha773]

Interestingly, Taipei Metro has waist-high barriers separating the paid areas from public areas at most stations. Although I thought this might be because fares are lower, it is clearly from cultural differences between North America and other continents as you explained in your Urbanist Lessons from the Netherlands video.

[@jjjosie_]

i thought this was about newcastle and was shocked when this guy wasn't a geordie

[@shreychaudhary4477]

I just realized that you played O Canada while you did the canadian dollar thing

[@jtgd]

Yay! Thanks!

[@MaebhsUrbanity]

btw. those patco gates seem like the standard UK gates, glad ours sort of pass the test, though you can totally learn to use a bit more force.

[@georgekarnezis4311]

4:03 kei truck spotted.

[@Molejules]

I don't care what today is, this is still Alex Davis content and it is a good day.

[@arashkhavaran3972]

IT"S DAVID!😍

[@weenisw]

Bested only by the HEETs

[@TheChrisLeone]

I could easily climb over every single one of these except the one-way turnstiles. Public transportation should be free, reliable, and safe!

[@brentlangasmiller]

I would like to take credit for taking that video of Alex getting stuck in the SEPTA high turnstile.

[@alexwithclipboard]

Some say the MFL is full of mentally ill people fighting with inanimate objects. I haven't the faintest idea what they're talking about.

[@brentlangasmiller]

Yeah, I couldn't tell you what they're yapping about.

[@Reticulating-Splines]

Proof that subway fares are run on an honor system unless you're elderly or disabled, and should just go zero-fare anyway. Estonia did it for their capital city. Luxembourg did it for their whole fucking country-

[@quacki614]

my favorite turnstile is the newark light rail

[@PhilipSalen]

Amazing video! This discusses such a crucial issue!! SEPTA should put more effort into preventing fare evasion and stopping vandalism

[@MassbyTrain]

We should do it Vienna style. As if it looks like everyone has a ticket then you get one. Also fine people 80 dollars if caught

[@danieljk826]

You should visit BART's new gates! They're like DC's gates, but with an arch over the gates that completely seal the opening, and they supposedly have mechanical locks that stop people from brute-forcing their way through the gates. They're currently installed at a few stations and should be in all stations by next year.

[@brianking8080]

Getting Ethiopian in DC is a pro move.

[@Umweltliteratur]

Turnstiles are an afterthought. Just make it affordable and convenient to pay and provide a good service. At that point, they are unnecessary.

[@MasonJarGaming]

YOOOOO! There is a Japanese Kai truck at 4:03 !!!

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

The "everyday" station in Philly looks like City Hall on the Broad Street subway. Did you even check out the Market-Frankford Line?

[@alexwithclipboard]

I ride the MFL all the time. I am very familiar with what you are alluding to. Please, regale me with your most entertaining story from the MFL.

[@spacepeanut]

and the septa ada gates are even easier to beat! just push right through them!

[@bobuxman69]

Try the TTC next, they are very easy to get through

[@taliaf.3221]

Doing the lords work...

[@ameliajaneparker9350]

This is so amazing.

[@LucaPasini2]

And then there's line C on the Rome Metro, where each station has a couple of emergency gates with panic bars that have no alarm system if you open them. All it takes is one altruist passenger that opens them and leaves them open when leaving a station, and then everyone can enter for free until by chance an employee arrives at the station and closes it. That said, if the gate is closed and there's an employee at a station, which happens randomly, they will usually run after you if you try to evade your fare.

[@erik_griswold]

Next do the west coast!

[@lukehalmrast7366]

Alex you should try to fare evade on the Vancouver skytrain next!

[@jacktattersall9457]

They are the only transit system with armed transit police (as a full police service in BC, they have to carry handguns).

[@jacktattersall9457]

Try fare evading on the Helsinki Metro. There are no faregates, but when I was there on a Saturday afternoon I did run into a ticket controller on the tram I took after getting off the metro (so glad I'd bought a ticket)!

[@adambailey5057]

I'm curious if you have any suggestions for solutions? Perhaps follow up video could be best practices in other metro systems? MTA is attempting to limit entrance through emergency gates by removing them as permitted by fire code, create delay unlocks on others, and pay guards to guard others. There are plenty of complaints for all options, but the question is what is the alternative (aside form just making the system fare-free, which has its value)?

[@sarahcarroll3753]

Great question. I love this fun video! ...but I'm also hoping Alex might at some point do a more serious follow up on the broader topic of fare structures and fare collection. He could bring more of his own signature style --> broad context and information while entertaining & provoking thought.

[@centredoorplugsthornton4112]

How about families of 5 or 6 barging through the gates at PATCO on one or two fares? How about fare evaders following closely paying passengers through the gates? Without the paying passengers permission. Been there saw that.

[@MellouwMusic]

Patco is actually pretty easy to force open if there's nobody around. First time on Patco I tossed my ticket not knowing it's needed to exit on the other end and was able to push the gates open with moderate force

[@vanabantas6085]

the most common way people fare evade on patco is just waiting for someone else to open the gate and following behind them. once the gates open, you can just put your hand there and they will never close.

[@zengwish]

Alex is like a better version of Sam Wendover if he had a sense of humor and actually knows about trains

[@Rezaal]

You need to move to a country or city where ALL public transit is free all the time. Yes! There are more than you think around the world, although not aware of any in the USA

[@1kCam05]

Bro showed himself committing a crime and showed people how to fare evade💀

[@syro33]

huh, as someone from Utah ive never had to deal with these. Then again we dont have a subway but an aboveground light rail thing instead, and well... there's really nothing stopping you from not paying here in terms of physical barriers, but occasionally someone will ask for your ticket on board, and they'll ask you to leave if you dont have one. If youre gonna take a bus though, you might as well, cause the train ticket also works as a bus ticket, and the bus driver's much more likely to notice if you don't pay.

[@magnetique12]

Try to fa re ev asion Paris Metro with its big double turnstiles AND controlers inside metro platforms access! Berlin metro don't have turnstiles but there are surprise severe controls.

[@williamhuang8309]

The conclusion from this video is that the three-pole turnstile is outdated and prone to fare evasion. Same as the retracting wedge type. PATCO and WMATA look to have the best gates but they're both let down by lacklustre implementation in the form being climbable. Adding some anti-climb poles to both and making the gates taller/extend lower would drastically improve this. Also the PATCO gate could be made stiffer- on my local system, the gates have a physical latch that you can hear go click which locks the gate in position. The MBTA gate is let down by how the system is tap-in only. Have you tried testing the gates for tailgating? Some of the more modern faregates are set up poorly in that they take way too long to close after someone uses them.

[@danieldaniels7571]

The kight rail in Phoenix doesn't even have gates. The homeless just get off and on it as they please.