Q: Has the MTA considered the fire hazards created by the installation of all these turnstile-jumping prevention methods?

A: No issue addressed in this space has inspired as much e-mail as the subway’s high entry/exit turnstiles, the padlocking of subway exits, and the iron gates blocking turnstiles. Considering how slow the HEETs are to process riders under normal conditions, New Yorkers’ fear of being crushed against them by a panicked crowd appears legitimate.

The main safety valve in an emergency is the station agent, the director of communications for New York City Transit, Charles Seaton, said. “The station agents can electronically unlock gates to allow customers to leave the station in case of emergency,” he said.

Where will the agents be if the token booths are closed?

“Walking the platforms,” he said.

He is referring to the roving-agent proposal made by the MTA in its latest budget. The idea is that instead of sitting in a glass booth at one end of the station, an agent will be on duty in every station at all times, wandering up and down the platforms.

Fire codes across the country require rooms to have at least two means of exit, yet New York has subway platforms whose gates are padlocked at one end during off-hours. Why? Although I’ve been querying NYC Transit for weeks on this issue, I have yet to get a satisfactory response.