Hundreds of transit stations across the United States make it impossible, or exceedingly difficult, for wheelchair users or others with mobility challenges to traverse stations and board trains, federal officials said, a shortcoming rooted in decades-old construction and struggles over scant funding.

A new Transportation Department grant program, championed by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) — a double amputee and former Blackhawk pilot — and created under last year’s infrastructure law, is sending $686 million to nine states to upgrade 28 of those stations. The projects will raise platforms, construct elevators and ramps, and add raised warning strips for blind riders, among other fixes.

“Transit is designed to be the great connector. But only if you can physically get aboard is that actually possible,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in announcing the first grants Monday under the five-year, $1.75 billion All Stations Accessibility Program, known as ASAP. The program targets “legacy” systems constructed before 1990; some were built a century ago.

The grants include $254 million for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) — to reduce platform gaps, modify fare gates and install elevators at subway stations in Brooklyn and the Bronx — and $15 million for updating a 1960s-era monorail in Seattle, where officials said staff must currently put down a portable ramp at the Seattle Center station for the safety of wheelchair users getting on and off trains.

Only about a quarter of New York’s 472 subway stations are considered accessible, according to local transportation officials. As part of a legal settlement this year, the MTA agreed to add elevators or ramps “to create a stair-free path of travel at 95 percent of the currently inaccessible subway stations by 2055,” the authority announced in June. Billions of dollars have been dedicated to the effort in recent years, but much more is needed. This week’s federal grants will go toward four of the stations.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will use its $67 million federal grant to retrofit Boston’s 80-year-old Symphony light-rail station, raising platforms to make boarding easier for people with disabilities and seniors, including residents of a nearby assisted-living facility. In Maryland, transportation officials will tap $7 million to upgrade the Martin Airport commuter rail station north of Baltimore, which the Federal Transit Administration said “requires riders to cross multiple tracks to board the train.”

Duckworth said she does not ride the “L,” the elevated train in Chicago, because of accessibility challenges. (The Chicago Transit Authority says 70 percent of its 145 rail stations are accessible.) So she was thrilled to hear a top local transit official promise several years ago to work toward making all the stations on the “L” and on Metra commuter rail accessible. She then asked how long it would take.

“He said, ‘Oh, 25 years,’” Duckworth recalled.

The idea that it would take half a century after passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990 to achieve that goal was a jarring reality check for Duckworth. Local officials told her they wanted to act quicker but lacked the dedicated funding. “That’s when ASAP became my cause at the national level,” Duckworth said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/10/12/bridge-construction-infrastructure-law/

Buttigieg traveled to Illinois to inspect transit lines with Duckworth, President Biden embraced the push for accessibility, and Democratic and Republican colleagues backed the funding, she said.

The hundreds of millions of dollars in grants announced this week will help fund critical improvements on more than two dozen stations nationwide, but that represents just the start of the costly and complicated work that needs to be done nationally, FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said.

“More than 900 of the total 3,700 rail stations in our country remain inaccessible,” Fernandez said. “That’s about 25 percent. This program aims to change that, one station at a time.”

States, cities and transit agencies had to apply for the new grants. In addition to the grants, Fernandez said transit agencies can use other federal funds, which expanded under the infrastructure law, for accessibility projects.

166 infrastructure projects awarded billions in federal funding

The hefty cost of some of the overhauls — which sometimes require acquiring real estate or other major investments — “has in fact been the reason that those stations were not made accessible over the past 30 years,” Fernandez said.

The Chicago Transit Authority will receive $118 million for major improvements to its Irving Park, Belmont and Pulaski stations on the Blue Line. Illinois commuter rail officials will receive an additional $67 million.

When she’s in Washington, Duckworth said, she can make her way around about 80 percent of the Metro system, making the inaccessibility of the “L” back home even more frustrating and underscoring how much work needs to be done on systems across the country.

“I can’t wait for these projects to get started,” Duckworth said. “And I can’t wait to finally ride the newly accessible ‘L.’”

Climate change: Federal push for emissions tracking reveals split among state DOTs

Red Line: As Wes Moore seeks to revive Red Line, project faces uncertain path

New trains: A first look at the trains that will replace Amtrak’s 50-year-old rail cars

Free buses: Free buses are a money saver. Riders say they’re still too slow.

Air travel: Airline inks Boeing deal for 100 jets amid industry optimism