Nearly $1 billion spent, but elevators and escalators still don’t work

From the New York Times:

New York City Transit has spent close to $1 billion on new elevators and escalators in the subway system since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in an effort to improve access for people with disabilities. But a study by the New York Times found widespread evidence of breakdowns, maintenance problems and poor service, with the effect that many areas of the subway system are still not reliably accessible to people who need the elevators and escalators for access.

Among the study’s findings for last year:

• One of every six elevators and escalators in the system was out of service for more than a month.
• The system’s 169 elevators averaged 68 breakdowns or repair calls each, with the worst ones logging more than double that number.
• Two-thirds of the elevators had at least one breakdown in which passengers were trapped inside.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 11:43 am and is filed under ADA, NOT2BEMISSED, accessibility, transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post