Delayed Emergency Exits: Safety Tool or Fare Trap?

Why are emergency exits slower to open now?

In dozens of subway stations across the city, what used to be an immediate "push-to-exit" gate now makes you wait (typically 15 seconds) before you can clear the door. The MTA calls it "delayed egress," part of a strategy to choke off what officials dub the "superhighway of fare evasion," where passers-through slip in via emergency exits immediately after other riders depart.

The pilot rollout is already live in 70+ stations, with plans to expand to 150 stations by the end of the year. Early results show gate evasion down ~40 percent in those zones, and a system-wide 10 percent drop in fare dodging tied to the delay policy.

But pushback is loud. Critics warn that even seconds matter in emergencies, especially for people using wheelchairs, during fires, or under duress. The MTA maintains the system meets fire-safety codes and that in a true emergency the locks override immediately.