Sound Transit’s board voted last week to begin designing fare gates at 14 light rail stations in an $87 million pilot program aimed at curbing fare evasion that the agency said has left roughly 37% of riders not paying. The agency projects the gates could recover between $32.8 million and $82.7 million per year and pay for themselves within two to three years.
KIRO host John Curley said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio that the math doesn’t hold up.
“$60 million is what we get with farebox. That’s 60% of the people paying,” Curley said. “$98 million is if everybody paid. So, $38 million is what’s not being collected, but they say that the farebox gates are going to be able to get them $82 million within two to three years. The number doesn’t make sense.”…