MTA to Complete Accessibility Upgrades at Stations Throughout All Five Boroughs
Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
The MTA plans to make accessibility upgrades at 17 stations through contract awards in 2023.
MTA
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Feb. 23 the 17 stations set to receive upgrades through contract awards in 2023 that will make the system 95% accessible.
The 2020-2024 Capital Program has allocated $5.2 billion to make 67 stations accessible—more than the previous three Capital Programs combined—in what the MTA said is the agency’s most ambitious accessibility program to date.
“We are determined to make the NYC Transit system fully accessible, not just for persons with disabilities, but also for seniors, for parents with children who are in strollers and travelers with luggage,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “That’s why we are doing station accessibility projects at four times the pace of previous MTA Capital Programs, and why we made an agreement with disability advocates that we won’t slow down until the system is truly accessible to everyone, once and for all.”
Contracts for 13 new stations were awarded in 2022, including eight stations as part of the agency’s first Public-Private Partnership package. As a result, the MTA is currently building 34 stations across the system, a release said.
In 2023, the MTA intends to award ADA-focused station upgrades at 17 stations and the agency also projects that accessibility upgrades will open at 12 new stations in 2023 as construction continues at previously awarded stations.
“We are upgrading accessibility throughout the system at an unprecedented pace,” said MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “Our 2023 commitment targets are just the latest example of MTA C&D using tools like design-build and bundling to advance these critical projects better, faster, and cheaper.”
The MTA said the agency also relies on the use of Accessibility Task Forces to bolster accessibility along the system, which serve as a forum for the exchange of information about ADA-related services and passenger needs.
Additional information about specific station upgrades is available here.
