BART Agrees To Address Elevator Issues

In a settlement agreement approved by a federal judge, San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has agreed to work toward improving train accessibility, according to a news release from groups that pushed for the change, MSN reports. This includes implementing a strategic maintenance plan to renovate its 87 station elevators, promptly repair out-of-service station elevators and escalators and implement a preventive plan to ensure routine access. The agreement also calls for the agency to ensure a quick response to cleanliness issues, regular communication of outages, personnel training and the development of a complaint procedure and emergency-preparedness plan. Various groups filed the suit against BART in 2017, alleging the agency violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and California law by failing to properly maintain elevators and escalators. BART maintains it did not break any laws and is not expected to claim fault under the settlement.