MBTA has ‘much to do’
It’s been 20 years since a group of riders filed a classaction lawsuit against the MBTA, seeking a more accessible transit system, but the terms of the 2006 settlement agreement remain as important as ever.
“It’s hard to believe that the Daniels- Finegold v. MBTA case is 20 years old,” said lead plaintiff Joanne Daniels-finegold. “As we stated in the settlement agreement, a safe, reliable and accessible trip should be and must be afforded to all passengers.”
Greater Boston Legal Services, which represented the plaintiffs, said on its website that the settlement will “greatly improve access for the 200,000 people with disabilities who live in the T’s service area.”
An update on the T’s progress toward making accessibility upgrades that satisfy the terms of the settlement was discussed at a biannual meeting. Judge Patrick King, the independent monitor tasked with overseeing the settlement, said the T still has 15 remaining items to achieve in the agreement.
King said the T needs to work on providing adequate station staffing coverage; ensuring MBTA personnel are available to assist all passengers with access; improving its call center, which has been identified as a major problem since it was outsourced about five years ago; and providing alternative transportation services consistent with the ADA.
King also pointed to a 3% drop in elevator and escalator performance since past meetings — 99% to 96%, which “may not sound like very much, but when it comes to persons with disabilities using the system, it can destroy their ability to use the system.”
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said that during a time when the T is under a safety management inspection from the Federal Transit Administration, it recognizes that “safety and accessibility go hand in hand.”
Poftak said the T’s Capital Investment Plan includes $1.2 billion in funding for about 80 projects with significant accessibility components.
He highlighted the $77 million that has been earmarked for construction of brand-new elevators at Downtown Crossing to provide a fully accessible connection between the Red and Orange Line, which is a term of the settlement.
“We obviously have much work to do in order to realize our shared goal of becoming fully accessible, but we have made progress,” Poftak said.