In europe, cash penalty if caught. And not an MBTA $15 joke penalty. The nice policeman or employee will walk you to an ATM to withdraw 300 or so euros. If you dont have any money in the ATM, you will be billed 50% more.
In London, if you enter the system without tapping, you cant exit downtown, because the gates force you to tap out. Paris as well. So you need to jump the turnstile (or storm the gate) on both ends in paris. But paris takes fare evasion seriously. The barriers are turnstiles AND a gate, so you can't jump it, AND they conduct checks. I was even asked to show an ID to prove that I was eligible for the youth (under 25) day pass.
Japan also uses the gate-less system in the less urban areas.
Last time I was in Ashmont (over a year ago), they were using the very same system. Simply a validator attached to a pole, no gates.
What the MBTA should do is remove every second operator in the system that isnt doing anything, and reassign them to check fares (because we all know they cant be fired). We already spent a stupid amount of money on the gates, but why continue to spend so much on maintaining them? If they break, let them sit open but keep the tapping mechanism.
