For
at least four decades, riders boarding PATH trains here
have gotten a free ride to Newark, just a few minutes
away by rail. Savings: up to $1.50.
That quirk is to end at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. New fare
collection turnstiles have been installed at the
Harrison station and they will affect westbound
travelers for the first time.
Only a few hundred riders are believed to be affected,
but a precise number is not known because of the absence
of turnstiles, Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the
system's operator, the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey, said Friday.
The new turnstiles allow customers to pay the fare with
an MTA New York City Transit MetroCard or a PATH
Quickcard, and will accept the "smart card" by
June.
Those credit card-sized cards contain a microchip
allowing riders to link smart card accounts to a credit
card or replenish their transit account by check or
money order. Money can also be added with cash, credit
or debit cards at machines in the stations.
The new turnstiles are to be installed at all stations
by April.
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