Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) leaders attended the New York City post of the Society of American Military Engineers annual gala on Saturday, Nov. 5, where the Authority was recognized for accomplishments in enhancing accessibility to mass transit. MTA Chief Accessibility Officer and Senior Advisor Quemuel Arroyo and MTA Construction and Development Chief of Staff Cathy Sheridan accepted the award on behalf of the MTA.
“2022 has been a milestone year for accessibility at the MTA,” said MTA Chief Accessibility Officer and Senior Advisor Quemuel Arroyo. “From the rollout of OMNY for Reduced-Fare customers to the MTA’s historic commitment to bringing accessibility to over 95% of subway stations, we have made huge strides towards a more accessible system.”
"Making the entire MTA system more accessible is one of our top priorities,” said MTA Construction and Development Chief of Staff Cathy Sheridan. “We have made immense progress on accessibility in the last few years through our historic Capital Plan, with further enhancements coming soon. We are honored to be recognized.”
The MTA has made progress on accessibility throughout the system in recent years. Since 2020, 15 additional subway stations have been made ADA-accessible, and the MTA’s historic 2020-2025 Capital Plan includes nearly $6 Billion to make 80 additional stations accessible. This summer, the MTA committed to bringing ADA-accessibility to over 95% of subway stations by 2055. In addition, the MTA partnered with the City of New York on Zoning for Accessibility in 2021, which created a framework for developers to make accessibility upgrades to stations without requiring MTA capital dollars. Four stations are already slated for upgrades through this program. In addition, the MTA recently rolled out OMNY for the over one million Reduced-Fare customers, which includes seniors and people with disabilities.