Sound Transit study suggests fare gates at 14 busy stations by 2030

A new Sound Transit study suggests that the agency install fare gates inside as many as 14 busy light rail stations, in hopes of making money within five years or faster.

The most promising sites are downtown Lynnwood, Redmond, Bellevue and Federal Way; at SeaTac/Airport; and nine stations in the Seattle core from Northgate to International District/Chinatown, to be retrofitted by 2030, managers reported to a transit board committee Thursday.

The agency would follow the examples of Vancouver, B.C., San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C., to lower fare evasion, currently near 30% in Seattle.

But there are complications.

For instance, people must tap an ORCA fare card to escape any of the 14 gated stations - a departure from existing rules to tap upon entry only, to pay the standard $3 fare or discount fares. If they forgot or skipped payment while entering a nongated station, and lack ORCA, they'd have to halt and buy a ticket to pass through an exit gate.

Meanwhile, certain short-distance shopping trips within Rainier Valley, and Eastside local trips between Microsoft and Marymoor Village, would be gateless, in the same modified honor system as now.

Sound Transit promised one extra-wide gate per station to handle wheelchairs, and wide gates at the airport for luggage.

Youth ages 18 or below, who ride free and don't generally use fare cards, will need to get ORCA to pass out of a gated station.

Estimated construction costs are $79 million to $88 million, for the pilot project to equip 14 of the system's 38 stations, reported Brian de Place, executive director of security and fare enforcement.

After two to five years, the gates would break even," followed by $30 million a year more revenue than ungated stations.

For perspective, fares last year totaled $73.8 million, or only 2.3% of Sound Transit's income, excluding federal loans. Even a successful gate program would move the needle just slightly toward solving a $35 billion long-term gap, or to reach Ballard instead of stopping a future line short at Seattle Center.

The stakes are higher at San Francisco-based Bay Area Rapid Transit, funded predominantly by fares, and facing serious cuts unless voters approve new taxes. BART says it's saved additional millions from reduced vandalism and crime.

Beyond the bean counting, any fare gate debate carries cultural baggage. Some people pay fares and resent freeloaders, while others skip in frustration, and many believe public transit should be free.

"There's sort of an equity issue, in terms of making sure people who are using the system are contributing to that," said transit board Chair Dave Somers, the Snohomish County executive. His constituents have paid taxes for three decades, and light rail still might not reach Everett until the early 2040s.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson posed many questions about the practical workings of new fare gates.

For instance, what is the real potential - keeping in mind blue-clad fare ambassadors report over 90% of people checked showing proof of payment, while recent electronic counts show just 63% paid?

DePlace answered that postevent crowds swarm through stations without paying, and fare ambassadors can't check them. Also, they're canvassing only 2% to 3% of all riders, a small sample. Youth are 6% of customers, so compliance is really near 69%, he said. In the late 2010s, when governments insisted harder on fare payment, about 85% paid.

(Official ridership counts, currently near 140,000 per day, are based on laser detector readings inside trains.)

The mayor also wondered about causing "barriers" to homeless or low-income people, "many of whom are riding the trains for free." They'd have to obtain an ORCA card, which requires more efforts by transit agencies to help, she noted. Some will change to buses or streetcars instead, Wilson conjectured.

This week, Wilson announced a goal of funding 22,000 free ORCA passes for low-income Seattle residents, with part of the sales tax proceeds if voters renew the Seattle transit measure this fall.

Gates aren't being considered at surface stations, where people would be tempted to evade by walking into trackways, or tight Stadium Station, where crowds must step over rails.

Nonetheless, about 85% of light rail journeys would include a gated station and thus be charged fare.

Fare ambassadors, who spend more than half their shift doing customer service and safety work, would still exist after fare gates begin.

Sound Transit wouldn't release the full study Thursday because the team needs to "finalize some details, a spokesperson said. Discussions should resume at the next full board meeting June 25.

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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 6:36 AM.