{"id":6160,"date":"2022-03-09T18:41:12","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T18:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/09\/new-infrastructure-funding-will-help-expand-access-to-transit-for-people-with-disabilities\/"},"modified":"2022-03-09T18:41:12","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T18:41:12","slug":"new-infrastructure-funding-will-help-expand-access-to-transit-for-people-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/09\/new-infrastructure-funding-will-help-expand-access-to-transit-for-people-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"New infrastructure funding will help expand access to transit for people with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With the passage of new bipartisan infrastructure legislation, nearly $ 2 billion is reaching traffic agencies across the country to help address an accessibility gap.<\/p>\n

“We’ve never had a separate fund to improve access for people with disabilities to public transportation stations,” Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth told CBS News in a recent interview. “That’s really significant. We’re going to see real improvements very soon.”<\/p>\n

About 20% of all transit stations in the U.S. do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the Federal Traffic Administration, because they are not accessible to people with disabilities. It\u2019s a problem Duckworth, who is a double amputee, knows well. <\/p>\n

“I still can’t get on the subway in New York. I can’t take the L in Illinois, in Chicago, I can’t move very well because half the time maybe there’s no elevator,” he told CBS News. beginning of the year. He explained, “I tried to get on the New York subway once and couldn’t get on because the elevator wasn’t working, and the next one didn’t have an elevator, or the next one.”<\/p>\n

The bipartisan infrastructure measure establishes a $ 1.75 billion five-year grant program for transit and commuter train agencies to improve their stations and is based on legislation Duckworth introduced earlier this year.<\/p>\n

His bill ASAP sought $ 10 billion over 10 years to help legacy traffic systems such as New York City, Chicago, Boston and Washington, DC, to begin the costly work of improving stations later. of significant financial losses due to the pandemic. These stations saw that their number of users was decimated by COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be back and the other $ 10 billion over the next five years, I\u2019m not done yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The program is a small part of the $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that will also call for improved accessibility to Amtrak stations and a permanent disability advocate on Amtrak’s board of directors.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n