Los Angeles: Gate dilemma will keep Metro rail riders on honor system [View all]

(Los Angeles Times) Julio Maciel was headed home on the Expo light-rail line in downtown L.A. on a recent weekday. He entered at the Pico station, sat down and waited for a train headed south.

But when he walked inside, he didn't pay.

Maciel thought he had paid, he said, because he had bought an unlimited day pass. He didn't know he needed to tap it against a shiny, metal validator by the entrance.

"I didn't see any signs," Maciel said.

The Pico station is long and slender and has two entrances at either end where the validators stand. There are no turnstiles or gates. Riders may enter without paying. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-gate-locking-20131118,0,7196112.story#axzz2l0Jhc6tX