Williams, 44, a saleswoman from Harlem, said she has twice had to mail in defective cards. Yesterday, several riders did say that they had had frustrating experiences with turnstiles not accepting valid fare cards. The transit agency said it was "particularly disturbing and misleading" and "simply not true" to suggest that turnstiles in poorer neighborhoods are not maintained or repaired as often as those in more affluent areas. The scammers disable the turnstiles and then pressure or intimidate riders into handing over their money for a swipe at a turnstile that is still working, Mr. But the station also has had 218 reports of "scammer activity" there in just the last six months, the transit agency said. Gotbaum's news conference added to the failed swipe count yesterday by using expired cards to get video images for their reports.)Īt the 116th Street station on the B and C lines, where the news conference was held, 43.6 percent of all swipes were not valid, according to Ms. Seaton, an agency spokesman, said many of the failed swipes result when "scammers" tamper with the turnstiles or when people pick up and try discarded MetroCards. Gotbaum's report as a "desperate attempt to gain exposure" and called it "improperly prepared and incomplete." The agency also called the report's use of its data "utterly misleading." In a statement, New York City Transit criticized Ms. "What I see is people swiping and swiping and swiping, to no avail," said Mr. ![]() At a news conference, she was joined by Councilman Bill Perkins, who said he had seen people jump over and curse at turnstiles out of frustration. Gotbaum said that too many riders faced the daily irritant of not being able to enter the subway despite having a valid card. In other cases, riders are swiping too fast or too slow and encounter often-frustrating messages like "Please swipe again," "Swipe card again at this turnstile," or simply, "See agent."Įven so, Ms. They include legitimate ones like insufficient fare, an expired card, or one that was just used. ![]() However, transit officials pointed out that their data do not differentiate among the reasons for the failed swipes. She released a report yesterday, "Stuck at the Turnstile," that noted that 28.8 percent of swipes do not result in a "go" message on the turnstile screen. The public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, obtained information from New York City Transit on 2.4 billion swipes from June 2003 to March 2005. The MetroCard swipe - that flick of the wrist that must occur before a rider can pass through a turnstile and enter the New York City subway - was the subject of a testy exchange yesterday between the city's public advocate and transit officials who said she was misusing their data.
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