Philadelphia Representatives Request Funds for New Elevators

Philadelphia representatives Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle have teamed up to request US$7.2 million for new elevators on Broad Street Line’s Erie Avenue Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) station, WHYY reports. Announced on July 26, the 31^st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the money is part of the Invest Act, which passed the House of Representatives on July 1 and is now waiting on Senate approval. “We believe we worked strongly together to make this happen and this will do huge things for not just the location, but for the city of Philadelphia, for transit, and particularly for the disabled,” Evans said. However, Colman Holmes, co-chair of SEPTA’s Disability Access Committee, has raised concerns about the reliability of public transport for the disabled. “If that one elevator on street level happens to be broken — and elevators at SEPTA, unfortunately, fall out of repair quite frequently — we as the disabled are stuck,” Holmes said.