FTA: $686MM to Modernize Transit Stations (UPDATED)

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor

"Americans deserve to have the best rail system in the world, and the investments we are announcing today will serve to modernize the NEC for generations of passengers," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Dec. 22.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced 15 grants totaling $686 million in nine states to modernize older transit stations and improve accessibility, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Dec. 19.

Funded by President Biden’s Infrastructure Law, the grants, which represent the first round of funding from the new All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP), designed to improve the accessibility of transit rail stations, will “help make it easier for people with disabilities and mobility needs to access some of the nation’s oldest and busiest rail transit systems through essential upgrades, such as elevators.”

Some of the selected ASAP projects include:

  • The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will receive $254 million to make its Myrtle Avenue, Norwood Avenue and Avenue I subway stations in Brooklyn and the Burnside Avenue subway station in the Bronx fully accessible, allowing safe and convenient travel to and through the stations. Modernization work will include installing elevators, updating platforms to reduce gaps, add tactile platform edge warning strips, modifying fare gates, stairs, and improving handrails.
  • The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will receive more than $118 million to modernize the Irving Park, Belmont, and Pulaski stations to make them fully accessible, allowing safe and convenient travel. Built more than 50 years ago, the stations will be modernized with elevators, ramp upgrades, improved station signage, and general station enhancements.
  • The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) will receive $56 million to make its 11th Street subway station on the Market-Frankford Subway Line and the Chinatown, Erie, Fairmount Upper Level, Fairmount Lower Level and Snyder stations on the Broad Street Subway Line fully accessible, allowing safe and convenient travel. Modernization work at the stations, which were built in the early 20th century, will include installing elevators, general station upgrades, ramps, and making path of travel improvements.

  • NJ Transit will receive $34.1 million to make upgrades to five train stations, including $18.2 million to improve the Anderson Street-Hackensack and New Bridge Landing stations on the Pascack Valley Line to make them fully accessible. Improvements will include installing high platforms, fully accessible ramps, tactile warning strips, accessible parking spaces and upgraded communications systems. $14.5 million will go towards improving the Bradley Beach station on the North Jersey Coast Line. Improvements will include installing high platforms, fully accessible ramps, tactile warning strips, accessible parking spaces and upgraded communications systems. And $1.4 million will go towards the study and design of new platforms at the Chatham and Orange stations on the Morristown Line. The studies will also propose implementation recommendations that could be applied to other inaccessible stations, according to the U.S Transportation Department.

  • The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will receive more than $66 million in funding for accessibility improvements at Symphony station, which was constructed in 1941 and is one of downtown Boston’s last inaccessible underground Green Line stations. 

According to the FTA, projects were selected for funding based on criteria described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This new program was created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $1.75 billion in funding through 2026. In response to the NOFO, FTA received $905 million in funding requests. As a result of this demand, FTA says it is awarding both the FY 2022 and 2023 competitive grant funding.

“Every day, millions of people rely on our public transit system to get to work, buy groceries, and see their loved ones—yet today, three decades after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, hundreds of transit stations are still inaccessible for travelers with disabilities,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The All Stations Accessibility Program is going to change that by adding wheelchair ramps, elevators, and more.”

According to the FTA, inaccessibility is “a significant hurdle” for riders using rail systems built before 1990, known as legacy systems, adding that more than 900 transit legacy stations are not fully accessible today. ASAP “provides support for transit agencies to repair, improve, modify, retrofit or relocate station elements or facilities for passenger use.”

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