Long Beach tries new tactics for beachgoers who don't pay

Getting onto the sands in Long Beach this summer will require a scan or a wristband, as the city updates its pass system in an attempt to crack down on beachgoers who don't pay.

Visitors buying a day pass will get a waterproof wristband that's color-coded to that day, rather than getting a plastic pass, city officials said.

Residents will now have the option of a plastic card or a web-based app, both of which can be read by barcode scanners.

“The main benefit is kind of easing the flow of traffic for what is primarily our residents that buy the seasonal beach passes,” Long Beach Parks and Recreation Commissioner Joseph A. Brand Jr. said in an interview. “It'll just be a quick scan as they come on the beach.”

Officials acknowledge, however, that using waterproof wristbands for day passes is expected to reduce the number of people entering the beach without having paid.

Limiting 'passbacks'

“One of the issues that we've been faced with for many, many years is a group of people with beach passes will enter onto the beach,” Brand said. “They could have a second group of family, friends or neighbors coming down that same day … give [the passes] to them, and they can be reused.”

Passes already were nontransferable, but city officials hope that wristbands will make “passbacks” more difficult.

“This will give us a little bit of a mechanism to control or better control the use of passes on multiple occasions throughout the day,” Brand said.

Daily pass holders will still be able to leave the beach and get back on, Brand said.

City Manager Daniel Creighton said at last week’s City Council meeting that the wristbands will help “get the daily people to pay their fair toll for the day or the fair usage to use our beach.”

They will make enforcement easier, Creighton said. “It's a visual confirmation that they have paid and it gives the police something to look for when they're on the beach,” he said. “They see someone without a wristband, they could ask for their seasonal pass. [If] they don't have a seasonal pass, they could ask them to leave and go pay their fare to get on the beach.”

Passes are required to get on the beach on weekends from May 24 through June 15 and seven days a week from June 19 through Sept. 1, according to the city website. 

Daily passes cost $12 for residents and $15 for nonresidents, according to the website. Season passes range from $30 to $115 for residents, who must provide proof of residency, while nonresident season passes range from $60 to $230.

Season passes go on sale in May, according to the website. Digital season passes may be purchased online, while residents may purchase physical passes at a city gazebo or trailer, according to the site. Nonresidents can purchase day passes at beach entrances.

Bringing in older workers 

Other changes to beach access are a redesign of access points to make it harder for fare beaters to sneak through, and bringing in older seasonal workers. Brand said that when a 14-year-old is manning a booth, they sometimes encounter people who refuse to pay and just walk through. A pilot program last year with older workers was more effective. 

“They stood at the gate, and the fact that they were older and a little bit more mature, I guess they garnered a better level of respect,” Brand said.

City spokesman John McNally said the new system will help.

“The beach costs a lot of money to run,” he said. “Our taxpayers and the people that are paying to get on the beach are getting shortchanged by those that are circumventing the current system.” 

The barcodes on the season passes will allow the city to collect data to see how the beach is being used. Brand said the city won’t be tracking individuals.

“It will allow us to redirect resources, be it lifeguards, police specials, beach park personnel, or just something that may require additional eyes or additional manpower,” Brand said.

Leah Tozer, chairperson of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, said it's a good idea for the city to use data from passes to "understand how many people are using them, where they're going, where they're coming from."

"The more people that we can get down here and visit my membership, our businesses, and enjoy what Long Beach is all about I think it's always a positive," Tozer said.