Nifty,
asterphage, I used to work for the company that made these.
These gates are called NYCT High Barrier Entry/Exit Turnstile (HEET). In the NYC Subway system, this gate combines the Rotogate Barrier (which you drew a nifty picture of, asterphage), a Gate Controller, a Swipe Read/Write unit, and a set of vacuum flourescent displays (VFDs).
The Rotogate is designed to prevent fare evasion at unattended stations. These units accept magnetic farecards, tokens or MetroCards.
The HEET gate can be set up as an exit gate with no farecard required. It monitors the passengers with sensors, which is reported to the Station Controller (SC).
All data from passenger movement and fare cards are captured and stored at the gate. This information is sent to the SC when the gate is polled. A single HEET gate can store up to three days of data.
When a farecard is presented and validated, the gate keypin retracts and allows a single passage.
Description Specification
Material Type 304 stainless steel
Fare Media Acceptance Farecard, Metrocard, Tokens
Farecard capture No
Farecard Read/Write Swipe
Patron Displays Vacuum Flourescent Display (2x20)
Operating rate 30 passengers/minute
Barrier type Rotogate
Anti-Passback Yes
Counters Electromechanical and electronic
Communications RS422 serial
Reliability 120,000 Mean Time Between Failures
Maintainability 0.5 Hrs Mean Time To Repair
Power 120VAC, 60Hz, 5 Amps
Battery backup Yes