The Federal Transit Administration on Monday introduced some $686 million in grants to retrofit or improve rail stations to enhance accessibility for these with disabilities or mobility wants. The grants come from the primary spherical of funding beneath the All Stations Accessibility Program, a part of $1.75 billion over 5 years from the 2021 infrastructure legislation.
Based on FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez, talking at a press convention, greater than 900 of the three,700 rail stations within the U.S. stay inaccessible, having been constructed previous to the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Act in 1990.
The primary spherical of ASAP grants will go to enhance 28 stations in 9 states, Fernandez mentioned. States that can obtain funding embody Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington.
Initiatives highlighted by the FTA embody:
- $254 million to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to make three subway stations in Brooklyn and one within the Bronx absolutely accessible.
- $118 million to the Chicago Transit Authority to modernize three stations with elevators, ramp upgrades and different enhancements.
- $56 million to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to modernize 5 subway stations, together with each platform ranges of the Fairmount station.
“Transit is designed to be the nice connector, however provided that you may bodily get aboard is that really potential,” mentioned Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, talking on the press convention.
Whereas this spherical of funding from the ASAP program will attain only a small portion of the 900 inaccessible legacy stations, a senior FTA official mentioned in response to a query through the press convention that different system funding is out there to transit businesses for capital enchancment tasks that may also be utilized to station accessibility tasks.