Accessibility is Ramping up at the T

The Month of October was designated National Disability Employment Awareness Month by Congress in 1988, and as General Manager of the MBTA, I feel it’s time to shine a bright spotlight on the contributions and skills that individuals with disabilities have made to the workforce and the workplace.

Public transportation plays a crucial role in enabling people with disabilities the opportunity to live life to the fullest by seeking higher education, employment and overall inclusion into our society. There is a strong desire to comply not only with the letter but also the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with the complete understanding that all people with disabilities must have every opportunity to be fully participating members of our community and that fundamental to this opportunity is the right and ability to use public transportation in an equal and dignified manner.

And the T is working hard to improve accessibility system-wide for all our customers including our customers with disabilities; we have made great strides, and more improvements are to come.

We continue to upgrade our stations with accessibility features such as elevators, raised platforms, TTYs, and detectable platform warnings to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Over the next ten years, we will invest $176 million dollars to replace and refurbish many of our elevators and escalators ($122 million of that will be invested in the next four years). The design of additional or back-up elevators at many stations is underway. We have purchased new low floor buses that kneel and have built-in ramp systems for easier boarding; we are working to minimize platform gaps at subway stations, we are replacing mobile wheelchair lifts, and we are in the process of installing new P.A. systems, and improved signage.

In addition to these visible improvements, the MBTA is proceeding with the replacement of 7 elevators at Park Street, Porter Square, Central, Harvard and State Street Stations. Vertical access in our stations is a critical element of accessibility and I believe that our new focus to improve elevator and escalator availability and durability has made a real difference.

Just last year, the availability of the T’s 140 elevators averaged 91%, and today we are averaging up to 99% availability and in the past few months, we have had two days of 100% elevator availability system-wide for an entire day… no small achievement. Out of our 167 escalators, we average 97.5% availability. This represents a 20% increase over 2005 availability rates. We will continue on this fast pace to ensure our system is operational, dependable and accessible to all

Today, six stations - under construction – are being made 100% accessible: Ashmont, Kenmore, Arlington, Copley, Maverick, and State Street. And we will continue to focus on improving accessibility at other stations such as: Science Park—which is presently in the design phase.

Along with these many enhancements to the MBTA system, we continue to improve our customer relations. We are implementing new training programs for our employees on ADA and passenger assistance. With this new training, employees and customers can be assured that MBTA rules and regulations are compliant with the law and will meet the needs of the disabled community.

So as we near the close of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, let’s remember the critical role the T plays in so many lives and how our citizens and visitors will benefit from a more accessible MBTA.