FTA Issues $343MM ‘All Stations Accessibility Program’ NOFO

(Photograph Courtesy of New York MTA)

Approximately $343 million in Fiscal Year 2022 grants will be made available through the new All Stations Accessibility Program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) reported on July 26, the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created and will provide $1.75 billion to the Program that will “make it easier for people to get on board at the nation’s oldest rail public transportation systems,” FTA said. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for FY2022 (download below) will be published in the Federal Register on July 27.

The aim of the All Stations Accessibility Program is to provide funding to states (including territories and Washington, D.C.) and local governmental authorities to help finance capital projects to upgrade the accessibility of “legacy rail fixed-guideway public transportation systems (e.g., subway, commuter rail, light rail) for persons with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs, by increasing the number of existing stations or facilities, such as outdoor light-rail boarding and alighting areas, that are fully accessible,” FTA said.

Inaccessibility is a “significant hurdle” for riders using such legacy systems—rail systems built before 1990—with more than 900 stations not fully accessible today, reported the government agency.

FTA said Program funding will support:

• Capital projects to repair, improve, modify, retrofit or relocate infrastructure of stations or facilities for passenger use, including load-bearing members that are an essential part of the structural frame.

• Planning projects to develop or modify a plan for pursuing public transportation accessibility projects, assessments of accessibility, or assessments of planned modifications to stations or facilities for passenger use.

Eligible applicants include “designated recipients that operate or allocate funds to inaccessible pre-ADA—or ‘legacy’—rail fixed guideway public transportation systems, and states (including territories and Washington, D.C.) and local governmental entities that operate or financially support legacy rail fixed-guideway public transportation systems and corresponding legacy stations/facilities,” reported FTA, which noted that the BIL limits the Program to “legacy rail fixed-guideway public transportation systems with stations or facilities for passenger use that are not already accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including wheelchair users.”

“While our country has made enormous progress in the three decades since passing the Americans with Disabilities Act, too many people with disabilities still don’t have access to reliable public transportation,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “Using funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are modernizing some of our oldest public rail stations and ensuring that more Americans count on our transit systems to get where they need to go.”  

“Equity depends on accessibility,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said. “FTA is committed to ensuring transit systems nationwide are available to people with disabilities and that they are able to use transit systems with the same ease and reliability as any other user.”