Resolution 2023-05 Regarding MTA’s Inaccessible Fare Machines Located at Light Rail and Subway Stations

WHEREAS, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a division of the Maryland State Department of Transportation, operates bus, light rail, and subway services in the greater Baltimore Region; and

WHEREAS, riders have various options for purchasing different ticket types, including through fare machines located at light rail and subway stations; and

WHEREAS, the various ticket types that may be purchased include single fare tickets, round trip tickets, and day passes, as well as weekly and monthly passes, depending on the location of the fare machine; and

WHEREAS, full fare tickets, as well as reduced-fare tickets for seniors or persons with disabilities, may be purchased for all fare types; and

WHEREAS, these fare machines were made accessible to blind and low-vision riders almost two decades ago by means of installing an audio guidance system which can be activated by the user and gives spoken instructions during the entire ticket purchase process; and

WHEREAS, the accessibility of this ticket purchase process has degraded over time and now is no longer accessible to a blind user who is not intimately familiar with the various steps; and

WHEREAS, the ticket types (such as single fare tickets, round trip tickets, and day passes) are no longer announced at the fare machines located at light rail stations; and

WHEREAS, the ticket types (such as single fare tickets and day passes) are no longer announced at the fare machines located at subway stations; and

WHEREAS, if individuals are not able to identify the ticket type they wish to purchase, they cannot proceed with the ticket purchase; and

WHEREAS, individuals wishing to purchase a reduced fare ticket for seniors or persons with disabilities at a fare machine located at a subway station are directed by signage which is not spoken to see a gate agent to purchase such tickets; and

WHEREAS, even if this particular instruction were accessible, having to locate a gate agent to make a ticket purchase constitutes an accessibility barrier for blind and low-vision riders who make use of the reduced fare option; and

WHEREAS, the incomplete spoken instructions most likely result from programming errors: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland assembled this eleventh day of November, 2023, that this organization demand that MTA make all needed corrections so that the entire process for all transactions available through fare machines located at light rail and subway stations are made completely accessible to blind and low-vision users using the audio guidance system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that MTA maintain full accessibility of fare machines in the future, even when features are added, deleted, or changed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization demand that MTA eliminate the requirement for those wishing to purchase reduced fare tickets at fare machines located at subway stations to seek out a gate agent to do so and instead add this purchasing option to these machines to conform with the procedures in effect at fare machines located at light rail stations.