T.S. Cordiner wrote:

So my question is, is the MTA putting its passengers in danger, or are
the gates of the NYC system very different from London's (they appear
more dangerous to me, but beyond cries of "health and safety" I am
unsure exactly what the argument for the gateline staff is anyway), or
are these "health and safety" reasons for manning gatelines actually a
very expensive policy decision with little benefit to passengers or the
commerical operator?

It's not really a H+S issue. The London system is not self-contained, in
the way that other cities' metros are. There is still a surreal mix of
tickets,ticketing,fares,routings,interchanges. (Though it's a lot
better than in the 1980s).

With this, the possibility of not being able to get in/out of a station
with a ticket that may or may not be valid is a very real one.

Richard [in PE12]