Duckworth pushes legislation to close the gap for riders with disabilities

Dozens of Metra and CTA stations are inaccessible for riders with disabilities, records show.

“It is a real challenge,” explained U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who uses a wheelchair after losing both legs in the Iraq War.

“There’s a lot of times the elevators aren’t working. If you have a visual impairment, it’s hard to use the ticketing machines, and it’s hard to find your way. If you have a hearing impairment you can’t hear the station announcement,” Duckworth told the Daily Herald Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Hoffman Estates Democrat and Republican colleague Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania introduced legislation to renew the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP).

The ASAP Reauthorization Act builds on the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided $1.75 billion in grants for older rail stations needing improvements, like elevators and ramps, to accommodate riders with disabilities. ASAP, which Duckworth spearheaded, expires Sept. 30.

The program “has helped urban, large cities (in particular) make long-overdue accessibility upgrades to our nation’s public transportation system,” Duckworth said.

The CTA and Metra have received about $185 million in grants. “We have some of oldest public transport stations, and they all need to be fully accessible,” Duckworth noted. “It’s not just for wheelchairs, it’s for people with vision impairment, it’s for people with cognitive impairment, and for hearing impairment.”

Duckworth hopes the bipartisan measure will be approved either as a stand-alone bill or rolled into new surface transportation legislation.

“It has been a very popular program across the country in both red states and blue states, so we’re going to work as hard as we can to get it passed.”

“Making a station fully accessible helps the able-bodied as well,” said Duckworth, citing parents with strollers and riders with short-term injuries. “It’s not just about persons with disabilities,”

About $1 billion in ASAP grants has been awarded to agencies across the U.S. with more to be distributed this year, Duckworth said.

Of Metra’s 244 stations, 35 are inaccessible and seven are partially accessible. Stops without accommodations for riders with disabilities include Halsted Street on the BNSF, Hubbard Woods in Winnetka on the Union Pacific North and River Forest on the UP West.

The agency is using over $66 million from ASAP for two Metra Electric station upgrades at 95th Street/Chicago State University and 59th/60th Street/University of Chicago, officials said.

The Chicago Transit Authority reports that 109 of its 146 rail stations are accessible.

Upgrades can be expensive and complicated because the age and layout of stations can require multiple elevators, certain sites are hemmed in by adjacent buildings, and some old platforms are too narrow or short for mobility devices, according to the CTA.

Duckworth described stations with accessible entrances that are far away from the main entry, or ramps with so steep that passengers require assistance, which can mean a long wait.

The end result is riders “can’t rely on the system to be independent so you can get to work or school,” she explained.

A House version of the bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, a Chicagoan, and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. It would authorize $350 million a year for ASAP starting in 2027.