Stringer: 25% of subway is ADA compliant

[Deucey]

https://www.amny.com/transit/subway-accessibility-report-1.19879908

Lack of subway accessibility leaves entire neighborhoods as ‘ADA Transit Deserts,’ comptroller report says

More than 638,246 seniors, children and mobility-impaired residents live along subway lines with no accessible stations, according to a new report.

By Vincent Barone vin.barone@amny.comUpdated July 17, 2018 3:56 PM

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About half of the neighborhoods served by the New York City subway system don’t have a wheelchair-accessible station, according to a new report. 

“Service Denied,” published Tuesday by City Comptroller Scott Stringer, highlights the gaps in the city’s expansive and notoriously inaccessible subway system and details its impact on a neighborhood level.

Only a quarter of the MTA’s 472 subway stations are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, leaving 638,246 seniors, small children and mobility-impaired residents living along subway lines without an accessible subway station, according to the report. 

“We recognize through this report that we’re not only just talking about stations. We’re actually talking about people — people who are denied access, denied job opportunities, denied housing opportunities all because we now know entire neighborhoods are without accessibility for people with disabilities,” said Stringer at a news conference outside City Hall Park on Tuesday. Stringer defined the identified areas as “ADA Transit Deserts.”

The report lists all of the city’s 189 neighborhoods. Sixty of those neighborhoods have at least one accessible subway station; 62 don’t have any accessible stations, while another 67 neighborhoods don’t have any subway station at all, per the report. Stringer said those ADA limitations directly impact housing and job opportunities. 

Only 23 percent of mobility-impaired city residents are employed or actively looking for work, compared to 74 percent of non-disabled residents. Stringer reasons that’s at least in part because of the difficulty people with disabilities have in reaching the 2.7 million jobs in areas with at least one accessible subway nearby and even harder to get to the city’s 608,258 jobs in the neighborhoods with only inaccessible stations. 

The majority of the neighborhoods with inaccessible stations are in the outer boroughs, where rents are cheaper. The median rent for the neighborhoods with at least one accessible station is $1,310, almost $100 a month higher than neighborhoods with only inaccessible stations.

“There’s also a limitation to what schools [people with disabilities] can get to. If we’re denying educations, employment, I don’t know how we can include them in mainstream society and give them fulfilling lives,” said Chris Pangilinan, a program director at TransitCenter and a wheelchair user. “The subway is everything.”

The report comes as NYC Transit president Andy Byford searches for funding for Fast Forward — his 10-year plan to modernize transit service in the city. The plan also calls for more than 50 station accessibility projects in its first five years to ensure commuters are no more than two stations away from an accessible station. Byford has emphasized accessibility as one of his major focuses at the authority. He’s hired an accessibility chief, Alex Elegudin, and has said that he’d like to get as many stations ADA-accessible as possible in 15 years. 

“New York City Transit has never been more committed to an accessible transit system than it is right now,” said Shams Tarek in a statement. “We’re also bolstering our completely accessible bus network, and we’re undertaking an overhaul and modernization of Access-a-Ride — all of which will lead to dramatic accessibility improvements.”

Fast Forward, which unofficial estimates peg at more than $30 billion, has garnered near universal support around the city and through MTA’s board, but early funding talks have been strained. The mayor and the governor have sparredover who is responsible for creating new funding sources for the plan. Budget watchdogs believe that obligation rests with the state, which can enact congestion pricing or new, regional taxes. Stringer, who also supports Fast Forward, said the city should have a role in bringing in new revenue, though he recommends the state legislature introduce an $8 billion Transit Bond Act in the next session. 

A transit bond act was last placed on ballots in 2005 and was approved by 56 percent of state voters. Stringer said his plan should stress the need to find new funding for the MTA. 

“Andy Byford has put forth a plan that many of us are hoping for. But if we think the job is done, it’s not,” Stringer said. “I know, as a former legislator, that great proposals die from a lack of funding. And we have to tie the funding to the plan or we’ll continue to be back here year after year.”

 

[Deucey]

Why a bond issue instead of dedicated and lockboxed transit funding - like a sales tax add-on?

[Gotham Bus Co.]

Does he have a time machine to go back 100 years and change some of the decisions that were made? Or does he want the whole system to shut down so that able-bodied people also can't use it?

[Deucey]

6 minutes ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Does he have a time machine to go back 100 years and change some of the decisions that were made? Or does he want the whole system to shut down so that able-bodied people also can't use it?

Since he's advocating for a bond issue and NYC putting $5 on it, and said nothing about shutdowns or how to construct, I'm trying to understand what you're on about and why.

[bobtehpanda]

1 hour ago, Deucey said:

Why a bond issue instead of dedicated and lockboxed transit funding - like a sales tax add-on?

That would never get past the three men in a room.

All these things are a symptom of a broken political system.

 

Is a quarter of the system really accessible when the elevators don't work most of the time?

[Yankees4life]

In other news, fire is hot and water is wet 🙄

[Via Garibaldi 8]

17 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Does he have a time machine to go back 100 years and change some of the decisions that were made? Or does he want the whole system to shut down so that able-bodied people also can't use it?

That's a lame @ss excuse because cities like Boston and Chicago have subways that are just as old if not older, and somehow  they magically have been making their stations ADA accessible. Outside of the few additions on the SAS line, I can only think of Grand Central having some kind of AC system in 2018.  Something else that's pretty pathetic.  

[Around the Horn]

17 hours ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

Does he have a time machine to go back 100 years and change some of the decisions that were made? Or does he want the whole system to shut down so that able-bodied people also can't use it?

Boston's system is older than ours yet all stations except three are ADA accessible. 

SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line dates back to 1907 and all stations except five are wheelchair accessible.

[BreeddekalbL]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:50 PM, Deucey said:

Why a bond issue instead of dedicated and lockboxed transit funding - like a sales tax add-on?

Prince Andrew vetoed the lockbox and tried to deny he raids the funds

https://www.wnyc.org/story/ny-governor-cuomo-vetoes-transit-lockbox-bill/

https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2013/11/14/who-me-cuomo-vetoes-bill-to-protect-transit-funds-he-denies-raiding/

[LTA1992]

On 7/18/2018 at 1:45 PM, Around the Horn said:

Boston's system is older than ours yet all stations except three are ADA accessible. 

SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line dates back to 1907 and all stations except five are wheelchair accessible.

Did you really just compare a system of 472 stations to those extremely tiny systems?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 minutes ago, LTA1992 said:

Did you really just compare a system of 472 stations to those extremely tiny systems?

The size of the subway system is becoming an excuse that is beyond old already. We know how big the system is. Any other excuses you want to use as to why disabled people aren't supposed to be able to have access to the subway in 2018??? They pay taxes just like everyone else does and they have a right to use the system just as other New Yorkers do.  It's a form of discrimination and they have been 1000% right in threatening lawsuits to force to the  to get with the times.  It's easy for you to make excuses since you have access to the system.  You don't have to rely on Access-A-Ride to get around.  Be grateful for that.

[RR503]

36 minutes ago, LTA1992 said:

Did you really just compare a system of 472 stations to those extremely tiny systems?

Smaller city -> smaller system -> less ridership -> less money/political will to undertake improvements. New York -- a city with the highest transit utilization rate in the country (while also being a hotbed for progressive politics) should have been at the vanguard of this.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

8 minutes ago, RR503 said:

Smaller city -> smaller system -> less ridership -> less money/political will to undertake improvements. New York -- a city with the highest transit utilization rate in the country (while also being a hotbed for progressive politics) should have been at the vanguard of this.

They just recently renovated 242nd street which is the closest subway station for my neighborhood which is a natural retirement community with a large elderly and disabled population, and they outright refused to put in an elevator there, so the only station in the entire area that is ADA accessible is at 231st street.  That station has to be used by several neighborhoods.  Ridiculous. If that one elevator breaks down, you can forget it.  I believe the closest station that is ADA accessible is in Inwood at 207th street.  On top of that when they provide express bus service in such areas, they then try to cut service, so it's like we don't want to provide accessibility to the subways AND if there's a bus that people can take we don't want to provide that either. The only thing that wakes them up is the threat of a lawsuit.

 

Quote

Senator Golden and Councilman Gentile Law Suit Against Mta Goes to State Supreme Court Tomorrow

MARTIN J. GOLDEN

 

October 20, 2010

 

ISSUE: TRANSPORTATION

Brooklyn - State Senator Martin J. Golden and City Councilman Vincent J. Gentilewill host a press conference tomorrow, Thursday, October 21, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., in front of Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, on Cadman Plaza (West side of the building).

Senator Golden and Councilman Vincent Gentile will be joined by plaintiffs and supporters of a lawsuit they have filed against the service reductions to bus lines in Southwest Brooklyn which were implemented by the MTA on June 27, 2010.

Expert counsel, who will join the elected officials at the press conference, will present arguments to Judge Kenneth Sherman tomorrow morning. The elected officials are suing that the service reductions violate the New York City and New York State Human Rights Law. The communities are home to one of the highest concentrations of senior citizens in the City and State of New York.

Source: https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/martin-j-golden/senator-golden-and-councilman-gentile-law-suit-against-mta?tab=&page=2

This isn't the first time they've been threatened with a lawsuit either. This is an example from eight years ago, and very little has changed. A damn shame.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Here's what the NYC subway map looks like with just accessible stations

A modified version of the city’s subway map put things into perspective

By Ameena Walker  Sep 25, 2017, 4:30pm EDT

Flickr/Jason Kuffer

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been hit with two accessibility-related class action lawsuits this year alone and it would be tough to say they are unwarranted. One suit alleges that New Yorkers with mobility impairments are “blatantly denied” access to many of the subway system’s stations while the other alleges that the MTA drags its feet when it comes to repairing elevators and escalators. An audit from Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office suggested that the latter accusation has some merit and now, a visual of a subway map that only shows accessible stations might be proving the former.

The Guardian took to the task of examining the accessibility of some of the world’s largest subway systems, including London, Barcelona, Paris, Tokyo, Washington D.C., and New York City, of course. To put things into perspective, they compared the city’s normal subway map with a version they created that only pinpoints fully accessible stations. Needless to say, the visual isn’t exactly brag-worthy.

Here’s what the city’s subway map looks like once non-accessible stations have been removed:

Credit The Guardian

Out of the MTA’s 472 subway stations, only 117— or 20 percent— are fully accessible and even then, mobility-impaired commuters have to pray that they don’t encounter broken elevators and escalators. The next accessible station can be as far as eight stops away (or worse), forcing commuters to have to grapple with tough decisions that may involve unreasonable alternatives or relying on fellow commuters to help them along their way.

The MTA is working to increase the number of accessible stations to 144 by 2020 but that will make about 31 percent of the entire subway system accessible. Disability rights activists argue that at the rate the MTA is going, the system should reach 100 percent accessibility by the year 2100 (ouch).

In case you’re interested, cities with subway systems that were the most accessible were Tokyo with 186 out of 211 and Barcelona with 129 of 156 fully accessible stations. Los Angeles and Washington D.C. are both 100 percent accessible. The worst subway systems for accessibility were London and Paris.

Source: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/9/25/16363262/nyc-subway-accessible-stations-map

-----------

Pretty pathetic. When I had issues with my leg earlier this year along with bronchitis, without the express buses I wouldn't have been able to get around. There is no way I couldn't tolerated the subway with all of the stairs.

Looking at the map, the Northwest Bronx has some of the fewest amount of subway stations with ADA accessibility.  

 

[bobtehpanda]

1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Pretty pathetic. When I had issues with my leg earlier this year along with bronchitis, without the express buses I wouldn't have been able to get around. There is no way I couldn't tolerated the subway with all of the stairs.

Looking at the map, the Northwest Bronx has some of the fewest amount of subway stations with ADA accessibility.  

It's ridiculous that even in 2018 there are some major transfer points that are not accessible.

• 4th Av - 9th St
• 62 St - New Utrecht Av
• 149 St - Grand Concourse
• East New York
• Delancey-Essex St
• Hoyt-Schermerhorn
• Parts of Atlantic Terminal
• Lorimer-Metropolitan

And this isn't even counting transfers to major bus routes; the Q53 doesn't hit a single accessible station between the Rockaways and Jackson Heights!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

4 minutes ago, bobtehpanda said:

It's ridiculous that even in 2018 there are some major transfer points that are not accessible.

• 4th Av - 9th St
• 62 St - New Utrecht Av
• 149 St - Grand Concourse
• East New York
• Delancey-Essex St
• Hoyt-Schermerhorn
• Parts of Atlantic Terminal
• Lorimer-Metropolitan

And this isn't even counting transfers to major bus routes; the Q53 doesn't hit a single accessible station between the Rockaways and Jackson Heights!

I purposely looked for such a map just to give a visual of how bad it is.  

[MysteriousBtrain]

I already have a few ideas to turn some stations into ADA:

Reopen and rebuild the elevators at 149 St-Grand Concourse. One on each side of the south end of the LL connecting to the north mezzanine. A middle level would be accessible to the two elevators and would connect to the middle mezzanine/underpass where two more elevators connect to the upper level, one each platform.

Demolition the abandoned stairways on 3 Av-138 St and build elevators there. The 3 Av entrances would be rebuilt to connect with two elevators at the teo "triangles" in the area.

It is a lot easier to build ADAs on elevated than underground, so that isn't even a question on what should be built for accommodation at northern terminals. As said earlier, 242 St is a station that could use it.

Parkchester has space for one elevator per platform, even if you have to temper with walkways. 

E 180 St is another one for one elevator per platform. Expand the mezzanine. That's it.

[Around the Horn]

3 hours ago, LTA1992 said:

Did you really just compare a system of 472 stations to those extremely tiny systems?

Did you really just make the argument that 25% accessibility is acceptable because the system is larger than others?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

1 hour ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

I already have a few ideas to turn some stations into ADA:

Reopen and rebuild the elevators at 149 St-Grand Concourse. One on each side of the south end of the LL connecting to the north mezzanine. A middle level would be accessible to the two elevators and would connect to the middle mezzanine/underpass where two more elevators connect to the upper level, one each platform.

Demolition the abandoned stairways on 3 Av-138 St and build elevators there. The 3 Av entrances would be rebuilt to connect with two elevators at the teo "triangles" in the area.

It is a lot easier to build ADAs on elevated than underground, so that isn't even a question on what should be built for accommodation at northern terminals. As said earlier, 242 St is a station that could use it.

Parkchester has space for one elevator per platform, even if you have to temper with walkways. 

E 180 St is another one for one elevator per platform. Expand the mezzanine. That's it.

The real issue is the doesn't want to spend the money. I also don't understand why the repairs are so costly. Get the costs down and that would make a difference. They also need to start putting those costs into their budget as a necessity. I think ADA improvements keep getting put in the back burner. When stations are rehabbed with no ADA improvements it pretty much ensures that the station will remain inaccessible for decades to come.

[QM1to6Ave]

The larger issue is that we are stuck with a system that, in total, has a fair amount of money put towards accessibility in total if you add together the money spent on Access-A-Ride as well as ADA in subways/buses, but because it is sloppily split between the two, neither AAR nor the regular system gets the money it needs. And AAR is notoriously cost-INeffective. It's a scary sign when reimbursing rides on green cabs is cheaper than having dedicated AAR vehicles transport people. 

[bobtehpanda]

AAR has now reached a half billion dollars a year. That's enough to upgrade several stations a year, even at inflated MTA costs.

Saying that making stations ADA-compliant is expensive is missing the forest for the trees.

[Lance]

The excuse that the system is too old to fully support ADA accessibility is just that, an excuse and an embarrassing one at that. The ADA laws are nearly 30 years old and in that time, it seems we're still at the same levels of accessibility that we were at in 1990. Like a few others, I was curious to see just how inaccessible the subway system is and it's pretty bad. Take a look for yourselves. Click the image for a full-resolution PDF.

Most of south Brooklyn remains completely inaccessible, as does the majority of the Jamaica line and large swaths of the Bronx subway/elevated lines. It becomes even more aggravating when stations are torn down to the supports and rebuilt from the ground up and they still neglect to add a couple of elevators (looking at you not-ESI station rebuilds). No one's expecting full accessibility to be an easy task given the age of the subway, but its age should not be the reason why it's "impossible", nor should it be something that's punted to a later date because it only affects a small minority of people. As mentioned above, when stations are renovated, accessibility should be a forefront concern, rather than the afterthought it currently is. We've got to fill in some of that accessibility desert above, not only for disabled riders, but also to make getting to and from these stations an easier task.

[Deucey]

1 hour ago, Lance said:

The excuse that the system is too old to fully support ADA accessibility is just that, an excuse and an embarrassing one at that. The ADA laws are nearly 30 years old and in that time, it seems we're still at the same levels of accessibility that we were at in 1990. Like a few others, I was curious to see just how inaccessible the subway system is and it's pretty bad. Take a look for yourselves. Click the image for a full-resolution PDF.

Most of south Brooklyn remains completely inaccessible, as does the majority of the Jamaica line and large swaths of the Bronx subway/elevated lines. It becomes even more aggravating when stations are torn down to the supports and rebuilt from the ground up and they still neglect to add a couple of elevators (looking at you not-ESI station rebuilds). No one's expecting full accessibility to be an easy task given the age of the subway, but its age should not be the reason why it's "impossible", nor should it be something that's punted to a later date because it only affects a small minority of people. As mentioned above, when stations are renovated, accessibility should be a forefront concern, rather than the afterthought it currently is. We've got to fill in some of that accessibility desert above, not only for disabled riders, but also to make getting to and from these stations an easier task.

I still feel like Manhattan and Eastern Pkwy IRTs would've been the easiest to put elevators in since they're single-levels from street to platform.

But it didn't happen bc they don't wanna do it.

[LGA Link N Train]

On 7/20/2018 at 7:05 PM, MysteriousBtrain said:

I already have a few ideas to turn some stations into ADA:

Reopen and rebuild the elevators at 149 St-Grand Concourse. One on each side of the south end of the LL connecting to the north mezzanine. A middle level would be accessible to the two elevators and would connect to the middle mezzanine/underpass where two more elevators connect to the upper level, one each platform.

Demolition the abandoned stairways on 3 Av-138 St and build elevators there. The 3 Av entrances would be rebuilt to connect with two elevators at the teo "triangles" in the area.

It is a lot easier to build ADAs on elevated than underground, so that isn't even a question on what should be built for accommodation at northern terminals. As said earlier, 242 St is a station that could use it.

Parkchester has space for one elevator per platform, even if you have to temper with walkways. 

E 180 St is another one for one elevator per platform. Expand the mezzanine. That's it.

I made a map 2 months ago and for every station that didn't have ADA accessibility, I put a handicapped symbol on top (excluding current ADA stations which are resembled in dark blue) 

you might notice that some handicap symbols are green. That's to represent the stations that are planned to get elevators (cause that's what official sources say), I tried to sort that from to High (Green) to Low (Red) priority list as a way to resemble as if elevators were to be installed in Phases. 

Anyways, Have fun editing my map: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cT5ICZwn2QtnNd95ccTdrVzDYT7B7E0h&usp=sharing