MBTA accessibility

Physical accessibility on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA or "the T") system is incomplete but improving, with accessibility on all buses (including the Silver Line), all Orange Line stations, all but 2 Red Line stations, and all but 2 Blue Line stations. As is true for most mass transit systems, much of the Boston subway and commuter rail lines were built before wheelchair access was a requirement. The Boston system underwent significant expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, and all the new facilities are ADA compliant. The MBTA has also refurbished many stations, and these too are accessible. More improvements are in progress or expected as part of planned construction.

In addition, on April 4, 2006 the MBTA announced the settlement of a class-action lawsuit, Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA, under which "the T will undertake major improvements in equipment, facilities and services that promise to enhance accessibility for people with disabilities while improving service for all T passengers. ...approximately $310 million in funds will be programmed into the T's Capital Investment Program to improve services and infrastructure."

Accessibility on the T generally means that some combination of elevators and wheelchair ramps connect the street and station platform. The MBTA provides recorded elevator, wheelchair lift and escalator status updates by telephone: 1-617-222-2828 or 1-800-392-6100; in case of questions that are not answered by the recorded telephone service, customer service representatives are available at 617-222-3200.

Subways

• All stations on the Orange Line and Red Line are accessible and all have high level platforms on the same level as train car doors, except for Wollaston on the Red Line proper and Valley Road on the Mattapan Line (see below). Porter is not accessible for a year (March 2011-est. March 2012) due to elevator maintenance.

• Stations on the Blue Line are wheelchair accessible except for Government Center and Bowdoin. Reconstruction of the State Street station started in 2005, including the addition of accessibility on the Bowdoin-bound (inbound) platform. As of April 2011 the project is complete and both platforms are now accessible, with only cosmetic work remaining. All Blue Line stations have high level platforms which should be on the same level as train car doors, although in a few stations, the actual alignment between the floor of the train and the station platform may be sufficiently mismatched that a wheelchair user will need to ask the train crew for assistance.

Bowdoin was originally scheduled to be closed permanently in 2008, but has been kept open due to lack of funds for an additional entrance to Government Center that would have removed some of the need for Bowdoin. As of 2011, design work is ongoing for a complete rebuild of Government Center station, including complete wheelchair access to all platforms. Bowdoin will remain open during the Government Center rebuild, but likely will be closed permanently afterwards. For more details, see the article on Government Center and the Red Line Blue Line Connector project described there.

• The Green Line runs trolley cars, and only newer vehicles (MBTA Type 8, also called "Breda") have low-floor, wheelchair accessible entrances; these entrances are only wheelchair accessible at the minority of stations that have matching raised platforms, although a few stations that lack such platforms have been equipped with portable lifts or wayside ramps.

The low-floor wheelchair access is by means of a bridge plate that extends from the vehicle to the platform (which requires that the platform have been upgraded to match). This is much less demanding upon the operator and requires much less time than use of the portable lifts. However, it is often necessary to remind the driver of the need for the ramp to be extended when a wheelchair passenger has reached the desired destination; the blue button with the universal disabled symbol located inside near the door is for this purpose.

Low-floor Type 8 vehicles are now running on the D branch of the Green Line (starting in December 2008), after a track upgrade to accommodate them without danger of derailment. With this upgrade, low-floor streetcar service is available on all branches of the Green Line, and all 2-car trains are supposed to contain at least one low-floor streetcar, although as noted above, this is actually usable for wheelchair access only at a minority of stations; single-car trains may still lack low-floor access, and in actual practice, occasional 2-car all-high-floor trains do run in service.

Access to the older high-floor vehicles requires either a portable lift or a wayside ramp equipped with a bridge that can be lowered into the vehicle through one of the doors. Use of the portable lifts to load and unload wheelchair-using passengers requires considerable physical effort from the operator (usually the driver) and may require several minutes.

• The Mattapan portion of the Red Line run runs older, high floor PCC trolley cars. Wheelchair ramps with hinged metal bridges have been installed at each station except for Valley Road, which has a long staircase from the platform to street level, which makes the platform itself inaccessible for wheelchair users.

Commuter rail

• Of those MBTA commuter rail stations that have wheelchair access, most only have a short elevated platform that serves one or two cars. The short elevated platforms are located at the end of the station away from Boston. A few commuter rail stations do have full length high platforms. These include:
  • Lynn
  • North Station
  • Providence
  • Route 128
  • South Station
  • All Greenbush Line stations
  • Back Bay (all tracks except those serving the Framingham/Worcester line, which only have short elevated platforms)
  • Worcester
  • Anderson RTC
  • Newburyport
  • Rowley
  • Lawrence
  • Ruggles
  • Forest Hills
  • Lowell (about half the platform is raised and the other half is level with the track; the raised section can serve up to 4 cars, although the train usually only pulls up far enough for access to 3 cars from the raised section)

See individual station articles for more information.

Center island stations

Most MBTA subway stations have side platforms but a few have island platforms. The latter make it easier for wheelchair passengers to reverse direction, either because they missed a stop, or because the elevator on one side of a station is out of service. Some of these stations are not accessible to wheelchair users wishing to leave or enter them. Center island MBTA subway stations are:

Blue Line

• Bowdoin (currently, no elevator access is available to or from this platform, so wheelchair users can only use it to transfer between inbound and outbound trains; this station will never be modernized; it was scheduled to be closed permanently once the MBTA started to run 6-car trains on the Blue Line in 2008, but the closing has been delayed due to lack of funds to add another entrance to Government Center)
• Government Center (currently, no elevator access is available to or from this platform, so wheelchair users can only use it to transfer between inbound and outbound trains; this station is scheduled to be rebuilt to include handicapped-accessibility within the next few years; the rebuild was originally supposed to add an entrance that would have reduced the need for Bowdoin, but no funds have been available for this addition)

Green Line

• North Station (inbound track: in this case, the island platform is between the Green Line and Orange Line inbound tracks; elevators provide access to the outbound tracks of both lines)
• Haymarket
• Government Center (three track island: the platform is a distorted triangle between the southbound and two northbound tracks, of which one is a through track and the other is a turnaround loop that receives southbound trains from Haymarket and sends them back north; as of December 2009, this platform is not wheelchair-accessible, but a rebuild is scheduled to start within the next few years, although currently held up by a lack of funds)
• Park Street (2 islands, one between the two southbound tracks and one between the two northbound tracks, the outer of which also has a side platform, connected to the island platform by an accessible grade crossing; separate elevators are available from the northbound side platform to the Red Line island platform (see below), and from the northbound island platform to a pedestrian tunnel that has been built solely to connect Green Line passengers from one platform to the other, which is connected to the southbound platform by a third elevator; changing between the Red Line and the southbound Green Line platform without using stairs requires the use of three non-redundant elevators — that is, the failure of any one elevator would make it impossible for a wheelchair user to change from the Red Line to the southbound Green Line platform or vice versa). As of 2011, there is an ongoing construction project at Park to improve reliable wheelchair access at this important station.
• Kenmore (2 islands, one between the two outbound tracks and one between the two inbound tracks; reconstruction of Kenmore Station started in 2005 and was completed as 2011; this station has an elevator from the lobby level to each island platform, an elevator from the lobby level to the busway, and an elevator from the lobby level to the east side of Commonwealth Avenue)

Orange Line

• all stations between Oak Grove and Community College
• all stations between Back Bay and Forest Hills

Red Line

• Alewife
• Davis
• Harvard (actually a hybrid island/side platform station, in which both platforms are on the west side of their respective tracks; platforms are connected by a sequence of two ramps that run downhill from the outbound platform to the lower turnstile area and thence to the inbound platform)
• Park Street (has both island and side platforms; only the island platform has elevator access; see description under Green Line above)
• Broadway
• JFK/UMass (there are separate islands for each branch of the Red line)
• Savin Hill (last center island on Ashmont branch)
• All stations between North Quincy and Braintree; however, Wollaston is currently not accessible

Buses

All bus service is accessible.

The T also has paratransit program, called The Ride which provides lift-equipped vans to transport people who cannot use general public transportation because of a physical, cognitive or mental disability, including those who use wheelchairs.

Blind and visually impaired

"Service animals are allowed on the T during all hours of operation, but must be kept under control at all times. No certification is required, nor is the animal expected to wear a special harness, scarf or other identifying markings."

Most, but not all, train stations have yellow detectable warning strips with truncated domes running in a two-foot (60 cm) band along the edge of the platforms.

Buses and trains are supposed to have either recorded announcements or driver announcements of station stops, but these announcements are often muffled, inaudible, or omitted, particularly on the Green Line and buses. The Red Line's "01800" series of trains have become infamous for their tendency to announce incorrect stops.^{[citation needed]}

Hearing impaired

The MBTA has a TTY number for "T" information: (617) 222-5146. Many stations have TTY pay phones; the MBTA web site has a list.

The MBTA says it has reviewed its web site, http://www.mbta.com, using "the United States Section 508 guidelines and WCAG double AA guidelines, ... and made all required accommodations to help ensure that the site is accessible by users who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers or other input mechanisms."

External links

• MBTA Web site
• Text of 2006 settlement agreement