MTA Improves Accessibility

Subways are getting some much-needed upgrades to serve disabled New Yorkers. On Tuesday, June 22, the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced accessibility improvements for a dozen stations. Those twelve are in addition to over a hundred other stations previously announced to be compliant by 2029 with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The ADA was passed almost 35 years ago. It protects the rights of disabled people in public life, from voting to parking. It also sets accessibility standards for public transit. But it’s taken a while for New York City’s subway system to catch up. Less than a third of stations are currently ADA compliant.

Rider’s Alliance, an organization working to improve New York’s public transit system, says cost is a major barrier to making subways accessible. But that’s not the only obstacle.

“I think it wasn’t a priority for too long,” said Danny Pearlstein, the Policy and Communications Director for Rider’s Alliance. “And around the time the ADA was passed, for example, the MTA was still digging out of a huge hole where the subway hadn’t been maintained properly, really since it was built.”

An ADA compliant subway station includes elevators and ramps, among other accommodations. These subway stations can be useful for both people with and without disabilities according to Dr. Sharon McLennon-Wier, executive director for the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York.

“When an elevator is installed, someone who’s on crutches [is] able to use the elevator just like someone that uses the wheelchair,” said McLennon-Wier. “For people that have suitcases or packages, and they just can’t get those suitcases or those baby strollers up and down the stairs, they’re able to use that.”

For McLennon-Wier, the next step is improving buses and the MTA's Access-a-Ride Paratransit Service, a shared-ride program for those who are unable to take a fixed route on a bus or train.

This story ran on the What's What podcast from WFUV News on July 22.