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MTA Receives Award for Extending Access To Disabled People

Baruch College’s Computer Center for Visually Impaired People (CCVIP) presented its Transportation Industry Building Access Award to the MTA at a special “25 Years of Access to Excellence” celebration. The award recognizes the outstanding job the MTA has done to make its transportation network more accessible to people who are visually impaired.

The award was presented to MTA Chairman Peter S. Kalikow at a ceremony at the college on October 23. Among the other honorees were Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, public radio and television station WGBH Boston, and the CBS Television Network.

One of the most important MTA projects cited was the MetroCard Vending Machine, designed with the help of staff members of CCVIP to ensure that it would be completely accessible to people with disabilities. For customers with visual impairments, MVM buttons are marked in Braille and the machines include an audio option that prompts customers on the use of the machine. Customers use personal headsets, such as those used with portable audio players, to access this feature, and Braille instructions for the use of the feature located at the base of the screen.

The MTA has more than 75 fully accessible subway and commuter rail stations, all of which feature large-print and tactile-Braille signs, platform-edge warning strips, and platform gap modifications or bridge plates to eliminate gaps between trains and platforms to assist visually impaired customers. Accessible stations also have platforms that can be reached by wheelchairs, telephones at an accessible height and with volume control, text telephones (TTY) for the hearing-impaired, accessible station booths, and other features that improve accessibility for customers with visual, hearing, and mobility impairments, as specified by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The MTA and NYC Transit first partnered with CCVIP in 1988 to create prototypes of the first tactile subway line maps, which are distributed free to visually impaired subway riders. The maps are raised-line Braille with large-print backup and are available for each subway line. Also available are tactile-Braille overview maps of each borough and station maps for 66th Street-Lincoln Center, Roosevelt Avenue-74th Street, Jay Street-Borough Hall, and 59th Street-Lexington Avenue.

In 2001, the MTA prepared a comprehensive “Guide to Accessible Transit,” detailing all of its programs for physically and cognitively impaired customers. Copies of the guide are available in large-print, Braille, and on audio tape, and on the MTA website.

In 1996 the LIRR collaborated with Baruch and the Stein Partnership, an architectural firm (now known as Stein White Nelligan), to develop a Talking Kiosk for Penn Station that combines a tactile and large-print map of the station with a talking computer and large-print screen. The kiosk gives directions to LIRR ticket windows and track locations, NYC Transit subway lines, MTA Police headquarters, restrooms, the lost and found, and other important passenger services. It also gives directions to AMTRAK and New Jersey Transit services. To help visually impaired customers locate the kiosk, it makes a distinctive “chirping” sound.

In 2004 the MTA will also begin a program to make its entire website accessible to the visually impaired.

CCVIP was founded in 1978. Its mission is to enhance employment opportunities for people who are blind and visually impaired through mastery of adaptive computer technology, including synthetic speech output devices, large display software and monitors, optical scanners, and keyboard alternatives to “point and click” cursor commands. As a center within the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies at Baruch College, City University of New York, CCVIP offers courses for beginning and advanced students, including introductory computing seminars, basic typing and word processing training, and in-depth courses in Internet use, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft Excel.

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