The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) celebrated the accelerated pace of completion of accessibility projects across the New York City (NYC) subway system with the opening of another fully accessible station, Grand St l station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – the fourth across the transit system in 2023. The opening followed a summer in which significant progress was made on accessibility improvements. In July, the MTA celebrated Disability Pride Month with a wide array of events and announcements, including the opening of three fully accessible stations: Court Square G station in Queens, Dyckman St. 1 station in Upper Manhattan and 8 Ave. N station in Brooklyn.
“The Grand St. L station is the most recent example of our hard work to ensure that no New Yorker has to worry about whether they can safely access public transportation,” said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “The MTA shares our commitment to delivering accessibility improvements across New York City and will continue to strive to make transit accessible to all.”
The pace in which the MTA is awarding contracts for accessible projects is five times what it was before 2020. The MTA has awarded contracts for 13 stations in 2020, 10 stations in 2021, 13 stations in 2022 and previously announced its plan to award contracts for 17 stations by the end of 2023.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when ridership significantly decreased, the MTA prioritized expanding accessibility improvements in the subway by completing 15 accessibility projects. There are currently 142 accessible stations and 30 stations in construction for accessibility upgrades, eight of which are expected to be complete by the end of 2023. Those stations are:
- 181 St. A
- Tremont Ave. B, D
- E 149 St. 6
- Lorimer St. L
- Metropolitan Ave. G
- 7 Ave. F, G
- Beach 67 St. A
- New Dorp SIR
The Grand St. L station accessibility project was funded by a grant provided by the Federal Transit Administration and completed as part of a design-build package of eight stations throughout the subway system, the first such bundle undertaken by MTA Construction & Development (C&D) to deliver accessibility upgrades better, faster and cheaper. The remaining stations from that bundle are projected to open later this year.
“When it comes to accessibility, the MTA is delivering on an unprecedented commitment – both in terms of dollars or number of stations – and we are going to keep going at the same pace and level of investment until we achieve full accessibility,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.
In July, the MTA began rolling out innovative new wayfinding features across 11 subway stations and 24 stops along the M60 bus route in Manhattan. These tools include:
- Floor decals on subway platforms that indicate accessible boarding areas
- Tactile subway line maps for customers with visual disabilities
- NaviLens wayfinding signage. NaviLens is an app that uses unique codes, similar to QR codes, to provide audio and visual wayfinding guidance and arrival status information, in upwards of 40 languages. The app was tested in 2019 at Jay St-MetroTech station and on the M23 bus route.
The 2020-2024 MTA Capital Plan includes an investment of $5.2 billion to make 67 subway stations ADA accessible, more than any capital plan in the MTA’s history and more than the last three capital plans combined.
“Newly-accessible stations like Grand St. L are the fruits of our efforts to execute projects better, faster and cheaper through innovative delivery methods such as contract bundling. We are on track to complete this particular eight-station package of ADA upgrades, which will greatly improve accessibility not just in Williamsburg, but throughout our transit system,” said MTA C&D President Jamie Torres-Springer.
