United States Attorneys Offices and PATCO Resolve ADA Concerns

United States Attorneys Louis D. Lappen of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced that the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) has agreed with the Department of Justice to take action relating to the accessibility of DRPA’s PATCO train line for individuals with mobility assistance issues.

Following a government investigation, DRPA has agreed to post signs advising individuals with mobility assistance issues how to request alternate transportation in the event of an elevator outage at one of PATCO’s elevator-equipped stations.  DRPA has for several years provided alternate transportation for such individuals in the event of an elevator outage.  The additional signs will inform mobility-impaired patrons at the elevators of how to utilize this alternate transportation.

“It is in everyone’s interest that individuals with mobility impairments have full access to public transportation,” said U.S. Attorney Lappen of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, “and it is critical that those individuals know how to access the programs in place for them.  We commend DRPA for its cooperation in the investigation and for agreeing to a common sense approach to this situation.”

The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Paul W. Kaufman and Anthony Scicchitano of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Assistant United States Attorney Jessica O’Neill of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, in conjunction with David Knight of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.