Making the NYC subway accessible to everyone

With its loaded pace and its animated metro system, New York has long been presented as a city of opportunities and inclusiveness where anyone can succeed.

However, it was not always the reality for people living with disabilities.

Metro stations built over a century ago have never been designed to take into account the needs of wheelchair people or mobility problems. It started to change 35 years ago today, on July 26, 1990, when President George HW Bush signed the Act respecting the Americans with Disabilities (ADA).

The ADA has put the daily challenge of accessibility to the foreground and its passage meant a way to follow to put an end to “persistent discrimination in the workplace and the obstacles posed by inaccessible public transport, public housing and telecommunications”.

This historic and progressive moment has created a push towards public accessibility for tens of millions of Americans, many, like New Yorkers, use public transport systems that go back to the turning point of the 20th century.

The New York Metro, founded in 1904, operates as the largest public transport system in North America and one of the largest in the world. In 2023, the system was on average more than 3.6 million runners per day and more than 1.15 billion trips for the year.

For a system designed to propel the economic force of our region and serve as an engine of growth for one of the most busy metropolitan markets in the world, ADA accessibility is of capital importance. What is the purpose of the metro system of a city if everyone can use or access it reliably?

According to the US Census Bureau, around 12.9% of New Yorkers have a handicap that has an impact in a way their ability to walk, to see, to hear or think. This is an increase compared to 2015 where around 10.8% of the New York population had a handicap.

In addition to the gradual increase in this demographic group in New York, the population over 65 years of the city reached more than 1.43 million in 2023, an increase of 53% since 2000. While the five districts become more and more gray in the years to come, it is imperative that New York is committed to becoming accessible for all those who live and work here.

With the MTA objective to make 95% of the city’s metro stations accessible by 2055, accessibility on a system scale and equal opportunities within our society are achievable and must be made by dignity and respect for others.

In a 24/7 city like New York, the process of upgrading our stations can be a problem. Sometimes this may involve digging through an underground infrastructure of several decades, browsing the old electric pipes, gas pipes and alternatives to install elevators where none existed before. These disturbances in the regular public transport service are never easy, but the results prevail from afar on the drawbacks.

The 35th anniversary of the ADA strengthens this accessibility mission and the importance of investing and modernizing our transit systems.

An accessible metro stop allows everyone to live, shop, frequent school and comfortably visit family and friends nearby. Elevators and ramps in stations help the elderly limited to mobility to see their grandchildren across the city. Parents no longer have to have trouble transporting strollers from top to bottom of multiple stairs during peak hours. Cyclists using rods, crutches, walkers and other mobility aids due to temporary injuries can use these stations to their maximum capacity.

He also generated new micro-mobility modes; Accessible stations allow people to bring their bikes or scooters to the metro. It is an exciting development that proves how improved accessibility can lead to unforeseen positive results.

The empowerment of all transit riders applies that ADA concerns accessibility, not handicap, facilitating simpler and more practical trips for all.

Even beyond elevators, mechanical stairs and ramps, ADA access can include lighter and wider platforms, brighter lighting, raised platforms, high-imported signaling, and much more. Each of these improvements fundamentally changes the way people live, appreciate and experience their city, whether in New York or elsewhere across the country.

The demand for accessibility has continued to grow and the fundamental changes that we make towards our public transport in our metropolitan region will now have an impact on the lives of tens of millions for the decades to come.

Thirty-five years later, the adoption of Americans with Disabilitites Act led to promising changes in countless communities across the United States, especially in New York.

Invigorating and transforming our public transport stations does not simply consist in responding to the requests of the law, but the improvement of society, and this is always worth it.

Hatab is vice-president of strong Corp. Construction Corp., a main general contracting company specializing in public transport accessibility and ADA compliance projects in New York and Long Island.