Federal Transit Administration (FTA) officials are espousing the benefits of an initiative that will ease access for disabled individuals at the oldest rail stations.
The FTA would provide $1.75 billion toward the increased accessibility effort, known as the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP), including $343 million in a notice of funding availability for fiscal year 2022. The initiative is supported by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“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,” 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.”
The program seeks to increase transportation system access while advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities of promoting equity, addressing the workforce shortage and bolstering economic strength.
“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.”