As MTA’s timeline for accessibility expires, advocates call for renewed commitment
On her way back from an MTA board meeting last June, Monica Bartley was stranded underground. The trip should have been simple — a straight shot from Bowling Green to Union Square on the 4 or 5 line — but three out-of-service elevators and an inaccessible station met her along the way. “I felt trapped,” said Bartley, who uses a wheelchair. “I kept going from station to station and not being able to exit.”
The MTA will hold a public hearing Tuesday to discuss capital improvement projects for 2018, including elevator installations at five currently inaccessible stations. They are among the final eleven of 100 key stations the MTA committed to bringing up to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards by 2020. However, disability rights advocates are calling for the MTA to adopt clear goals for full ADA accessibility beyond 2020.
“As far as we can tell, there is no plan for additional accessibility going forward,” said Mel Plaut, principal author of a TransitCenter report detailing the MTA’s record on accessibility. “It looks like they said “Ok, that’s our 100 accessible stations and that’s that.”
TransitCenter advocates for urban mobility through grant-making, reports, events, and technical assistance. According to their most recent report, only 23% of New York City subway stations are equipped with elevators, making the MTA the least accessible subway system in the country.
MTA officials did not respond to several calls and emails requesting comment for this story.
“There are certainly budget challenges — as there are with any type of capital improvement” said Plaut, “but what we believe is critically missing from this equation is the political will.” Plaut pointed to Boston and Chicago as examples of legacy transportation systems which were successfully transformed when transportation agencies made accessibility a priority.
Plaut and other advocates want to see detailed ADA accessibility improvements included in the MTA’s 2020–2024 Capital Needs Assessment, which is scheduled to be released within the next year. “This is the prime moment if you’re revisiting how the MTA is operating and you’re going to make changes,” said Plaut.
“The fact is, these things can be done.” —Mel Plaut, TransitCenter
In the meantime, lawsuits filed against the MTA by disability rights advocates are putting pressure on the agency to articulate accessibility goals.
“Unless we approach them by taking them to court, nothing happens,” said Bartley, who is an advocate with the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY). CIDNY, a non-profit organization dating back to 1978, is the lead plaintiff in two recently filed lawsuits calling for the MTA to adopt clear goals for improving subway accessibility and address systematic lapses in elevator maintenance. The organization hopes the lawsuit will prompt the MTA to make more stations ADA compliant and release a timeline for elevator repairs and maintenance.
The MTA’s shortage of working elevators and accessible stations impacts tourists and parents traveling with strollers as well as disabled residents. “There aren’t elevators everywhere,” said Willy David, a French tourist who has made use of the City’s public transportation during his visit. According to David, navigating the subway in a wheelchair can at times be complicated. “You have to make a plan before heading out,” he said. “You can’t improvise.”
“It’s almost like I’m holding my breath, hoping that when I get there the elevator is working.” —Monica Bartley, CIDNY
Bartley will attend Tuesday’s public hearing to advocate for a more accessible subway system. “We need to be at that meeting,” she said. “So we hear exactly what it is they propose and where we should go from there.”
