Muni Working To Stop Free Rides From Clipper Glitch
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SAN FRANCISCO: Muni Fix For Clipper Gate Glitch Allowing Free Entry Over A Month Away
Updated on: 2010-09-22 03:26:44
A glitch with the new fare gates in San Francisco's underground Muni stations has the agency taking steps to guard against fare jumpers.
Muni said the problems started with the roll-out of the new Clipper card and have only gotten worse. Officials explained they know about the problem, but a permanent fix to the glitch in the Clipper fare gates is still weeks away.
A simple wave of a hand is all it takes to open the fare gates at five Muni subway stations along Market Street.
Muni said it's known about the fare gate glitch since July, but in recent days news of the defect has spread across the internet.
"I've actually seen people trying to go through the gates without paying. I escorted them out," said Muni officer Allen Chan.
Now transit officers are keeping an eye on the gates. This past weekend, they issued 140 citations for fare evasion at $75 a pop.
Muni is hoping to have a solution sometime in October.
"What we're doing is working on a software upgrade, a technical update so it makes it difficult to do that," said Muni spokesman Paul Rose.
Muni officials were also on hand at the Civic Center station to guide passengers through the purchase of Clipper cards for use on Muni and other Bay Area transit systems.
Despite some confusion over the new machines, riders KTVU spoke with said overall they like Clipper.
As of Tuesday evening, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission says 60,000 commuters have signed up for Clipper.
"I love the card. I can use it to transfer from the bus to BART by using just one card," said Jean Wise of Hayward.
"There's a delay in loading the credit online. It takes three days, but they're working through their problems I'm sure," said Ron Bouganni of San Francisco.
Muni said the costs of fixing the fare gate glitch will fall on the vendor, not Muni. So no matter what the final solution to the fare evasion problem is, it shouldn't come out of Muni's budget.
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Víctor Lei
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