A U.S. District Judge has ordered SEPTA to install elevators for disabled passengers at two of their busiest stations, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Judge Gene Pratter ordered the transit system to build elevators in the courtyard at 15th and Markets Streets and in the center of City Hall – which lead to staircases and escalators to the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines.
Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania, which filed the lawsuit six years ago, argued disabled passengers would have to travel to 16th Street between JFK Boulevard and Market and follow a concourse to get to 15th and Market station – which they said was discrimination, according to the paper.
"This is, purely and simply, about civil rights and equal access," Steve Gold, the attorney for the disability-rights organization, told the paper. "Disabled Americans have the right to access these stations."
SEPTA’s director of engineering said installing an elevator at City Hall will cost $2 million.
