The east end of the Montgomery Station was closed so that the way could be prepared for new fare gates. This end was totally closed. To board MUNI Metro trains, the rider had to walk a full block to the west entry.

A sign pointed ahead to indicate gates a block behind. The sign read:

MUNI info

We're making a way for a better way to pay

Please use the faregates by the MUNI booth on the other side.

Implicit in everything that the SFMTA does is the assumption that riders will always pay to ride MUNI. Way back when Mayor Newsom proposed a fare-free MUNI, considerable expense had already been budgeted for new faregates, new stations with faregates, and new ticket vending machines. Is it any wonder that contracts could not be cancelled? The MUNI model is, and will always be, a pay to ride model. Pay to ride is part of MUNI's underlying presumptions.

The sign said:

We're making a way for a better way to pay.

Please use the faregates by the MUNI booth on the other side.

What is not evident from this sign is that the "other side" is a block away, almost a football field's length away. A MUNI employee spent almost the entire day pointing to the other end and telling people to go that way.

On Tuesday afternoon, the floor had been fully chiseled and made ready for the new faregates.

New faregate brackets had been laid out on the north side of the station. These brackets were destined to be hidden under the old fare gates.

By Wednesday afternoon, the old faregates had been returned to their old positions on the south side of the station. Note that they are elevated a few inches and set up on platforms.

The chiseling began on the north side on Wednesday. Just like the south side, the floor would be made ready for the new gates, then the old gates would be returned and mounted on a raised platform over the new hardware.

The south side of the station had been completed. Notice the raised platform. The new faregate hardware will remain hidden for months afterward.