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As part of a round of grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA), New Jersey will receive $34.1 million to improve accessibility at rail stations.

The grants represent the first round of funding from the new All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP), which provides support for transit agencies to repair, improve, modify, retrofit, or relocate station elements or facilities for passenger use.

In total, roughly $686 million is funding 15 grants in nine states, including five Garden State projects to upgrade Pascack Valley, Bradley Beach, Chatham and Orange Stations.

New Jersey Transit Corp. received three grants that will be used for the following projects:

• $18.2 million to improve the Anderson Street (Hackensack) and New Bridge Landing (River Edge) stations on the Pascack Valley Line to make them fully accessible. Improvements will include installing high platforms, fully accessible ramps, tactile warning strips, accessible parking spaces, and upgraded communications systems.
• $14.5 million to improve the Bradley Beach station on the North Jersey Coast Line. Improvements will include installing high platforms, fully accessible ramps, tactile warning strips, accessible parking spaces, and upgraded communications systems.
• $1.4 million to study and design new platforms at the Chatham and Orange stations on the Morristown Line. The studies will also propose implementation recommendations that could be applied to other inaccessible stations.

“Every day, millions of people rely on our public transit system to get to work, buy groceries and see their loved ones – yet today, three decades after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, hundreds of transit stations are still inaccessible for travelers with disabilities,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The All Stations Accessibility Program is going to change that by adding wheelchair ramps, elevators and more.”

FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said that while great strides have been made to improve accessibility, she stressed there is still a lot of work left to do.

“This includes modernizing rail systems in some of our most transit-oriented cities, and the ASAP program provides much-needed funding to address these overdue improvements,” said Fernandez. “We want to ensure people with disabilities and others who need extra assistance are able to use transit systems with the same ease and reliability as any other user.”