Ian Philbrick, “The new fare gates at South Station are annoying. They’re also part of the answer to a bigger problem.,” Boston Globe, February 13, 2026.

Gates can also become bottlenecks that slow commutes. “It is a tax on people if you’re stuck waiting in line,” said Jonathan Cohn, the policy director for Progressive Mass, which supports fare-free public transit. And that’s assuming they work; last month’s snow appears to have temporarily knocked the gates out of service.

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For Cohn, the fare gate debate is a chance to change how public transit works. “Whenever I see lots of money being put into combatting fare evasion, it always just ends up reinforcing to me why fare-free public transit is a good goal.”