OAKLAND — In a new settlement agreement approved by a federal judge Thursday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District agreed to take specific steps toward improving train accessibility for riders with mobility disabilities, according to a news release from groups that pushed for the change.
“This settlement ensures that people with mobility disabilities are not excluded from the Bay Area’s mass transit system and do not receive a level of service vastly inferior to nondisabled people,” said Jinny Kim, supervising attorney at Disability Rights Advocates.
Joining Disability Rights Advocates in its suit against BART were the nonprofit Senior and Disability Action, Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco, Legal Aid at Work and BART riders Pi Ra and Ian Smith.
The suit, filed in 2017, alleged the transit agency violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and California law by failing to properly maintain elevators and escalators, preventing riders with disabilities from accessing services.
BART officials have maintained they and the agency have not broken any federal or state laws, and are not expected under the settlement agreement to claim fault. Still, the agency has agreed to a number of remedies including implementing a strategic maintenance plan to renovate its 87 station elevators, promptly repair out-of-service station elevators and escalators and implement a preventative plan to ensure routine access.
The agreement also calls for the agency to ensure prompt responses to elevator and station cleanliness, regular communication of elevator and escalator outages, personnel training and the development of a complaint procedure and emergency preparedness plan that includes protocol for passengers who may be separated from their mobility devices during emergencies.
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Both Ra and Smith will also receive $7,500 each and the organizations named in the suit will receive $15,000 each. An additional $825,000 will be paid by BART for attorney fees.
“Working with advocates and those most impacted, we are advancing a series of improvements to elevators, escalators, training, and other things like accessible path signage,” said BART chief spokesperson Alicia Trost in an email statement. “We will continue to work to make BART as accessible as possible for all of our riders.”