FTA awards $343m to improve accessibility at transit-rail stations

Some of the selected Asap projects include:

• The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority in Ohio will receive $16m to rehabilitate eight stations to make the entire Blue Line accessible for people with disabilities. Station upgrades will include replacing the 40-year-old platforms with new concrete platforms with tactile warning panels, installing redesigned ramps, elevating a platform section to access trains, and improving parking stalls with kerb ramps to access the stations
• The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City will receive $156.5m to improve accessibility at the Wakefield-241st Street, Kingsbridge Road, 167th Street, 145th Street, and 110th Street stations. Modernisation work will include installing elevators, updating platforms to reduce gaps, adding tactile platform edge warning strips, making stairway repairs, improving signage, and enhancing visual and audio announcement systems
• The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will receive approximately $4.7m to construct platforms, wheelchair ramps, and make other accessibility improvements at five Muni light rail stops on the J-Church line and three Muni stops on the M-Ocean View line. These improvements will reduce gaps between the platform and railcar, improving accessibility for thousands of mobility-impaired residents who are currently unable to use the system.

“Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, great strides have been made in improving accessibility, but there is still a lot of work to accomplish,” said Veronica Vanterpool, acting administrator, FTA.

“By modernising rail systems across the country, the Asap programme provides funding to address these overdue improvements. We want to ensure that all customers can use transit systems with ease and reliability, including people with disabilities, those using mobility devices, and other users needing more accessible spaces.”

“We are not only modernising our nation’s infrastructure, we are doing so in a way that makes it more accessible for older Americans, people with disabilities, and all transit users”

Projects were selected for funding based on criteria described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. This programme was created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides a total of $1.75bn in funding for Asap through FY 2026. In December 2022, FTA announced $686m in FY 2022 and 2023 funding to 15 projects through the Asap programme.

In response to the Notice of Funding of Opportunity, FTA reports it received nearly $1.1bn in funding requests for the $343m available this year, demonstrating the high demand for the programme.