Submitted by Bostonosaurus t3_11vx838 in boston
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcvnjc6 wrote
Reply to comment by Bostonosaurus in Does anyone live in Cambridge-Boston-Brookline WITH a baby and WITHOUT a car? by Bostonosaurus
We have 3 diono seats - they fit 3 in a row due to being narrow and are easy to get in and out of a Zipcar or rental car.
We take the bus and T a ton, too - every T stop has elevators thanks to an ADA lawsuit in the 90s. I have both a side by side and convertible double stroller.
CasualSaturdays t1_jcvpubz wrote
FWIW, not every t station is wheelchair accessible/has elevators. Only about 2/3 of green line stops are accessible (all of the red and orange line, and all the blue line except bowdoin are accessible).
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcvpzvx wrote
Which green line stations aren't accessible? I've never encountered that.
Compared to NYC, where only 1/4 of stations have elevators, Boston is really accessible.
tarandab t1_jcvswu2 wrote
(I’m currently in NYC and they have signage that 95% of the stations will be accessible by…2055!! Glad Boston is better than them in that aspect.)
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcvziay wrote
It's awful right ? I have no idea how disabled people with mobility challenges are supposed to be able to live there.
It's really tough for parents of little kids, too, because most subway stations don't have elevators and you can't bring an open stroller on the bus. I have un coincidentally not been back to NYC since I had only one kid.
tarandab t1_jcw0iq2 wrote
My sister lives in NYC and she met us for dinner yesterday- they took the subway there. After I told her about the sign I saw she mentioned that she and her husband had to carry the stroller up/down the stairs at least at one end of the trip. And obviously this is a huge accessibility issue for wheelchair users, people who use other mobility aids or even just struggle with stairs. (My sister is fortunate that most of the places she takes her kid are places she can easily walk to.)
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw1eb5 wrote
Yes, or anyone with a suitcase or cart. It's not friendly to the elderly either.
The thing with carrying a stroller is that you can really only safely do that with 2 adults and 1 kid or a very light stroller if you're alone.
My sister lives in NYC and had a baby in fall and when I warned her about this, she said they wouldn't take the subway much. It's incredible how much transit inaccessibility incentivizes people to drive in the most dense city in the US.
aray25 t1_jcwmxre wrote
Pretty sure I read a couple years ago that a woman and her baby were both tragically killed when she fell down the stairs at a New York subway station while trying to carry a stroller up the stairs. MTA's response? A PSA about why you shouldn't try to carry a stroller up the stairs. No apology. No "renewed commitment" to accessibility. Not even an acknowledgement that this is a huge systematic issue for them.
Bostonosaurus OP t1_jcw0dy4 wrote
Boylston, Hynes, and Symphony are the only underground stations that aren't ♿ accessible. The rest are above ground stops that are basically just sidewalks. I'm not sure how to make the sidewalks compliant, it more depends on the trolleys themselves I'm guessing.
aray25 t1_jcwn5gn wrote
The sidewalks need to be raised to the level of the low level floors to avoid a step up into the train.
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw0zhb wrote
I didn't realize those stops didn't have elevators - I guess because we would always use govt center, park st, Copley, Kenmore instead.
Right, you have to get on in the back generally - I reviewed a lot of the GLX plans on a citizen committee and most don't have elevators, they're just either flat or have ramps with low enough grade to meet ADA standards.
toddlikesbikes t1_jcw7xto wrote
Only East Somerville doesn't have an elevator. Tufts, Magoun, Gilman and Lechemere all have elevators to get to the platforms. Union and Ball have elevators at their "high" entrances, but both also have lower entrances level with the platforms.
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw9e46 wrote
Didn't even notice Ball Square had an elevator, and I haven't been to union since the Medford tufts like opened and used the ramp. Never saw an elevator.
The East stop is definitely the worst though. The ramp is going to suck when CPX opens.
Ironically the state "owed" GLX because of 93's impact on East Somerville, not the city as a whole, and we have the worst stop with the least pedestrian improvements around it.
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw9rxa wrote
Eh, maybe we're better off without one: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mbta-apologizes-after-person-gets-stuck-in-elevator-at-somerville-station/3000186/
aray25 t1_jcwnb0j wrote
There was a temporary ramp at Union for a while because the elevator wasn't ready.
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcxr7zd wrote
Makes sense, I haven't been back since it was finished.
The original union plan had no elevator and a type of low grade ramp that was pretty far from the stop. It ended up being something like .4 or .5 miles to enter the station exposed to the elements if you were in a wheelchair, pushing a stroller, etc.
The temporary one wasn't bad. My pushback at the East station was that they combined the station entrance ramp for everyone (there are no stairs) with the CPX exit / entrance ramp.
It's pretty foreseeable that there will be collisions in the future.
aray25 t1_jcwkmd7 wrote
For many of those Green Line stops, though, "not accessible" means you might have to lift the stroller half a foot to get it on the train. Not a dealbreaker here. (Though it would be, of course, for someone who uses a wheelchair, so we can still strive to improve.)
The only major problem stations I can think of off the top of my head now would be Bowdoin, Boylston, Hynes Convention Center, Symphony, and Valley Road out on the Mattapan line. Symphony has a project in the works now to add elevators, and Hynes will get them as part of the new developments going up around the station.
obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcy5rlj wrote
Right, seems like there could also be some type of mini ramp for wheel chair users and a designated spot for the green line to stop to make the ground level stops truly accessible.
This doesn't matter for stroller users, as you said, but isn't fair for others with mobility challenges. And by not fair I mean not ..legal
aray25 t1_jcz5qs9 wrote
Old stations are generally exempt from ADA regulation because they predate the rules. However, when stations receive significant upgrades, they become subject to accessibility laws.
MBTA has really gone above and beyond what the law requires in terms of supporting accessibility. Whether what they've done and continue to do is morally adequate is a debate I'm not going to wade into.
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