BART must fix all elevators and escalators, according to lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — On Thursday, disability rights advocates concluded their seven-year-long class action lawsuit with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). The settlement agreement promises a series of improvements to its accessibility services, most of which are focused on elevator and escalator repairs and emergency preparedness, the settlement states.
“I am proud of what we accomplished through this settlement and happy that BART is prioritizing the needs of the disability community,” said Ian Smith, a BART rider who uses a wheelchair.
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The suit was filed in April 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of the group Senior and Disability Action in San Francisco and the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco, along with two people with mobility issues. The plaintiffs were represented by Disability Rights Advocates, or DRA, a national nonprofit legal center.
Plaintiffs from DRA alleged that they and other people with mobility disabilities are denied full and equal access to the BART system and are provided a level of service “vastly inferior” to that which BART’s non-disabled customers enjoy, the complaint said.
Elevator and escalator improvements
A November 2017 study conducted by Vertical Transportation Excellence (VTX) showed that over 40 BART elevators, as well as another 40 escalators, were in need of renovation in both San Francisco and Oakland stations, impeding any BART passenger who could not take the stairs, the settlement states.
The settlement requires BART to fix all of its elevators and escalators within the next 15 years and will make efforts to add more elevators once renovations are done. The settlement also expects elevators to be repaired within one hour of being out of service, except on weekends and holidays.
Staffing improvements
Aside from renovations, BART will be upping oversight to its elevators. In partnership with SFMTA, the two parties will hire a third-party company to provide elevator attendants to prevent “elevator vandalism” and “soiling,” the settlement states.
According to the settlement, elevator attendants will be found at the Civic Center, Powell, Embarcadero, and Montgomery stations. BART plans to increase staffing in hopes of responding within 30 minutes of a “soiling” complaint, taking “priority over all other janitorial tasks,” the settlement said.
Elevator attendants aside, BART plans to both increase staffing, especially graveyard shifts, as well as improve training toward emergency preparedness. Some of the improvements include:
Better evacuation training
Updates to the website and print materials related to emergency evacuation
Increasing access to evacuation equipment
Improving emergency drills and alerts and
Increasing access to call boxes
Providing more signage and paths for emergency travel
Ensuring fair gates are accessible and in order
“This settlement secures long-overdue improvements to the BART system and ensures accessible public access that will benefit all riders. Perhaps more importantly, it reaffirms the equal dignity of people with mobility disabilities,” said Laura Alvarenga Scalia, Staff Attorney at Legal Aid at Work.
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