Metro has “serious and multiple barriers” for riders with handicaps, according to a new academic paper.
A case study presented at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s annual meeting in Las Vegas found the system had significant barriers, including a lack of anchors for wheelchairs, fast-closing train doors, elevator outages and gaps along train platforms.
The two California ergonomics consultants said they had expected a few minor barriers when they used a test wheelchair to travel from the Takoma station to Dupont Circle.
| Tips on how to make it better |
| A local transit advocate, Chris Barnes, who runs FixWMATA.com, did his own study of Metro’s accessibility, borrowing a manual wheelchair to ride the trains and bus. He said Metro and riders could do some easy things to make life better for those with disabilities: |
| For Metro: |
| • Brighten the lighting. |
| • Keep the elevators running and repair them quickly. |
| • Return to automatic train operations. Wheelchairs get thrown around during the jerky manually operated rides. |
| For fellow riders: |
| • Give wheelchairs or disabled riders a wide berth when entering a train — or use a different set of doors. |
| • Use the non-accessible fare gates and fare vending machines first, instead of the handicapped-accessible ones. |
| • Save the elevators for those who really need it — and hold it if you see someone coming. |
| • Don’t use the elevators as restrooms. Not only do those in manual wheelchairs have to roll through the urine, they have to touch the wheels. |
“We were surprised that on each and every step of what should have been a short and easy journey, we encountered significant barriers to accessibility that resulted in difficulty using the Metro system,” Alison Vredenburgh and Ilene Zackowitz wrote.
Metro, like all U.S. public transit systems, is required to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act, making its stations accessible and providing comparable service for those who can’t take buses or trains.
“Over the years, Metro has made significant investments in the system to make it ADA-compliant, which it is,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said. “Beyond that, Metro is committed to making the system as accessible as possible. We continue to look for ways to make it even more accessible for the customers we serve.”
The consultants found the Takoma station entrance not accessible so they traveled the equivalent of a city block outside to an elevator, which was then down a “dark, isolated and narrow tunnel that may feel threatening.”
The fare vending machine had no tray to catch the farecard, which dropped to the floor — a tough reach for someone in a wheelchair.
The gaps between the trains and the platform are supposed to be no wider than 3 inches, but they found they were at least 3 inches.
Stessel said the agency installed gap reducers several years ago and the space should be 3 inches or less.
The fast-closing train doors closed on one of the consultants’ arms.
Once on the train, they found no designated location for wheelchairs to be secured and the chair had to be put in the aisle. Stessel said the newer-model rail cars, which make up a third of the fleet, have space for up to two wheelchairs at the center doors.
At the Dupont Circle station, the women found the elevator to the street was out of service. A Metro employee told them it had been down for about a year and they would have to go to Farragut North, then take a shuttle bus back to Dupont. When they questioned the person, they said the Metro employee told them: “You had a bad upbringing. I will not help you any more.”
Stessel said the elevator had not been out that long, though he could not provide a time frame Tuesday. He added that all frontline employees undergo sensitivity training on how to handle accessibility issues.
