The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) a $15 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant.
SEPTA will use the funding to renovate and improve the 19th and 37th Street Trolley Subway Stations in Philadelphia to make repairs and ensure they are Americans with Disabilities Act accessible.
The project includes raising the platform heights to accommodate future accessible trolley cars, reconfiguring the stations to make them fully accessible, and waterproofing the stations.
“These will be the first trolley station accessibility projects to advance under SEPTA’s transformative Trolley Modernization Program,” Leslie S. Richards, SEPTA CEO and general manager, said. “We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Transportation for recognizing the value of these projects and to Senator Casey, Congressman Evans, and our Congressional delegation for supporting investments in transit accessibility.”
The 19th Street Station is in Center City Philadelphia near the city’s largest job center while the 37th Street Station is near West Philadelphia near the second largest job center in the region and the University of Pennsylvania.
Net benefits of the project are estimated to be between 4.4 and 11 times its cost.
The RAISE grant program funds major road, rail, transit, and port projects.