MARTA fare gates: 93 arrested on felony charges for damage

ATLANTA - More than 90 people have been arrested and charged with felonies since June after investigators said they damaged or destroyed the system's new fare gates.

MARTA fare gate vandalism

What we know:

MARTA police have arrested 93 people as of Tuesday and charged them with felonies for damaging or shattering the transit system's new fare barriers.

Officers are actively searching for about 55 additional suspects accused of vandalizing the equipment.

Investigators said the Lindbergh station logged one of the highest tallies of damaged turnstiles because it received one of the earliest stations to see the new gates installed. 

Georgia law makes intentional property destruction exceeding $500 a felony charge.

The backstory:

Transit leaders installed the barriers a few months ago to replace the decades-old gates across its rail network.

Agency leaders noticed an early surge in vandalism during the initial rollout, though broken barrier numbers have fallen in recent weeks.

"We think they're fully trying to fare evade," Kreher said. "Like I said, the history of MARTA, the old fare gates were decades old, and they began to really fail, so they felt that they could just walk through and not have to pay."

Dig deeper:

Warning signs posted across Lindbergh station detail the legal consequences of forcing open the entry turnstiles.

Kreher stressed that commuters cannot break the heavy glass components by accident.

"These fare gates are very sturdy, very strong, and you physically have to force yourself into the gate to break it," Kreher said. "It wasn't by accident that they broke it."

Glass barrier repair costs

What they're saying:

Chief Scott Kreher said replacing both panes of glass on a damaged gate costs MARTA an estimated $3,000.

"We have sent over a letter requesting reimbursement from these individuals for the damage to the gates," Kreher said. "We want to make sure that not only do they face criminal responsibility for what they did, but they also reimburse MARTA for the expense."

Systemwide installation schedule

What's next:

MARTA CEO Jonathan Hunt told Atlanta city council members earlier this month the system should finish installing the gates at all rail stations by Nov. 13.

The transit authority is testing additional fare enforcement technology across rail lines to deter evasion, Kreher said.

"I really feel like once the gates are completed at all the stations, and then, we bring in some new technology on fare enforcement, you're going to see a really significant drop in how they're broken and how many fare evasion we see on the system," Kreher said.

Upcoming transit security details

What we don't know:

MARTA Police have not released technical specifications or operating details regarding the new fare enforcement technology being tested. 

MARTACrime and Public SafetyNews