Boston Disability Board Grills MBTA on Accessible Shuttle Buses During Green Line Outages

Uncategorized 2020-02-19 clip6215 · Meeting of February 19, 2020

Boston's disability advisory board pressed MBTA officials on coach bus accessibility during a February meeting dominated by a presentation on the 15-year, 50-plus-project Green Line Transformation Program. Angel Pena, the MBTA's chief of the Green Line Transformation Program, and Senior Director Kimberly Wooler told the Mayor's Advisory Board for Persons with Disabilities that the D Branch will become the first fully accessible Green Line branch, with platforms raised to 8 inches above the top of rail at Beaconsfield, Chestnut Hill, Eliot, and Waban. The planned Type 10 "supercar", at 114 feet, 40 feet longer than current cars, will feature 100 percent low-floor boarding, six wheelchair spaces, and wider doors for full ADA compliance.

Board Secretary Olivia Richard called coach bus lifts used during construction outages "death-defying," and Vice Chair Elizabeth Dean Clower demanded that explicit accommodations for mobility device users be built into the 28-day C Line summer shutdown plan, which Pena confirmed will rely on private coach buses because that corridor has no dedicated bus line. The board also heard a dementia-awareness presentation from Amy Walsh of the Age Strong Commission, who reported that roughly 11,000 Boston residents are living with dementia, and received a pitch from the Boston Tax Help Coalition's disability ambassador Lynn Dan, who said approximately 4,000 residents used the city's free tax preparation services last year.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report, 3,717 words

Source: the Uncategorized 2020-02-19 clip6215 meeting of February 19, 2020, reported from the official video recording and transcript.