MTA Emergency Gate Alarms: Necessary Evil or Evil Annoyance?

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Commuters trying to escape a crowded subway exit bottleneck have come to accept those abominable emergency door alarms as an infuriating fact of life. But the New York City Transit Riders Council says it doesn't have to be that way! The volunteer group, which was created by the state legislature in 1981 to represent the official voice of NYC bus and subway riders, has issued a report urging the MTA to replace the high volume alarms "with indicator lights or low volume audible tones."

After conducting a survey monitoring subway behavior, the NYCTRC concluded that "because the alarms sound very frequently, they have lost their ability to alert riders to a possible emergency and, if anything, serve to distract a shrinking force of station personnel from other duties...The alarms that sound to indicate that an emergency gate has been opened do not appear to deter improper use of the gates."

But without the horrible piercing alarm sounds, won't fare beaters go wild? The NYCTRC, which observed 109 people sneaking into the subway through an open emergency gate, doesn't think so. According to the report: "It has been said that alarms sounding when emergency gates are open serve as notice of an opportunity for fare evasion, but it must also be noted that there is much fare evasion that does not involve the emergency gates." And it's not unheard of for the transit police to arrest a commuter for exiting through the gate, either; one guy spent 28 hours in jail for trying to leave the subway station through an emergency gate.

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By John Del Signore in News on September 9, 2010 1:55 PM

Comments [rss]

The Guardrail

Necessary Evil IMO. In an emergency these exits will allow for us to GET OUT quicker than linking up behind a HEET.

My solution - turn up the volume on your MP3 player.

Dogsbody

Here's the solution:

The door should be rigged to a some kind of powerful, well directed hose pipe, or perhaps a carefully balanced bucket of water, so that any one who opens the door gets soaked.

That way, if there IS a genuine emergency, you could go through the door, and getting soaking wet would just be a minor inconvenience, since hey, at least you got out alive.

But it's a pretty good deterrent to make sure idiots don't go through the door without good reason, because then they'd have to spend the rest of the day in wet clothes.

rdayk

What else am I supposed to do when I have my bike or a heavy rolling cart, especially when there is no booth attendant? Not to mention people with baby strollers. Does the MTA really expect us to hoist these heavy, unwieldy things over our heads and try to squeeze through the turnstile? I hate to be the one setting off the alarm but when I have my bike or a heavy cart full of groceries, I just don't know what else to do, they are way too heavy for me to hoist up over my head.

ddhboy

Actually, you're supposed to use the emergency exit if you have luggage, strollers, or something heavy like that, and the idea is that a booth agent will quickly deactivate the emergency booth sirens in such an event, but since the MTA's getting rid of the booth agents, the system itself is now broken.

xToddrick

Actually you are supposed to use the Service Exit, not the Emergency Exit. Exit doors are marked accordingly. And if there is no choice but to set off the alarm then at least wait for other to exit as the alarm can damage other people's hearing. That said, the M.T.A. needs a better solution because they aren't enforcing the one they created. My understanding of the design is that the loud alarm is supposed to notify the nearby police and then they would investigate.

1stephanie

They don't even have a booth at my subway stop, yet they have screechy gates. What's the point? It's not like anyone's going to pull a citizen's arrest on the teenagers who let their friends in through it.

Spudster

The gates are there for getting out in case of an emergency. If there's a fire on the platform, for instance, people can get out of the station quickly through a gate. If the only means of egress were slow, single-file turnstiles, evacuating all those people would take forever.

I get the point of having them--but this alarm system is ineffective and deafening.

MT

If ever there was a reason for a ticketing blitz this is one. It would get the city some money and it would only be at the expense of these morons who can't go through turnstile like a civilized person. Even in stations with huge expanses of turnstiles (South Ferry comes to mind) some idiot always has to go through the gate. I say peg them with a ticket (at least)!

Alex

What about the stations with only two HEET (High Entrance & Exit Turnstyles)? Should everyone just form a line 30 people deep to exit the station?

xToddrick

Yes, wait; or take a cab or the bus. Do you drive in the oncoming lane when traffic is backed up or it is rush hour?

longacre

because the alarms sound very frequently, they have lost their ability to alert riders to a possible emergency

The alarms are there to stop fare beaters, not to let people know there's an emergency.

Yeah they're annoying, but unless you live in a subway station, you're not going to hear them for more than a few seconds a day. Get over it.

xToddrick

The alarms are not there to stop the fare beaters. If people exiting didn't open the gates then it would be much more difficult for fare beaters to use them since they only open from the inside. The alarms are there to notify nearby police that there is an emergency. Yes, it's not effective, especially when the police don't respond and/or don't enforce (it's illegal to use the gates) the policies.

But until the M.T.A. does something effective please do not use the gates as the alarms are not only uncomfortable - they can damage the hearing of those in the vicinity.

Alex

Turn off the alarms. I always use the doors rather than wait in long ass lines to get through what few turnstiles there are in most stations.

xToddrick

Do you cut in line in the grocery store too? Or perhaps you leave without paying. Just wait your turn and perhaps better position yourself for exiting when you get on the subway. Of couse if the gates weren't damagingly loud I really wouldn't care but you are affecting others with your solution.