Rail Stations With Only One Elevator, 2026

1Key findings

• 38 of 208 stations with elevators (18.3%) across Washington, Boston, and the Bay Area have only one elevator in the agency's own list.
• Highest share: San Francisco Bay Area (BART), with 19 of 49 stations (38.8%).
• At these stations, when the one elevator is out, there is no second elevator. Our live elevator maps show when that happens.
• Many stations with two elevators aren't much safer. Each elevator often covers a different part of the trip, so one outage can still cut off a platform (Section 5).

2By system

3Every station with one elevator

4Method

4.1 Unit of measure

The station, as the agency lists it. A transfer station served by several lines counts once.

4.2 What counts

Every elevator the agency lists at the station, including any out of service on the data date. Escalators, ramps, and wheelchair lifts are not counted.

4.3 Share

Stations with exactly one elevator, divided by stations with at least one.

4.4 Scope

The rail systems on our live elevator maps whose agency publishes an elevator count for every station. We found no such list for Chicago (Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)), Philadelphia (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)), Portland (TriMet), so those systems are not included.

5Limitations

• One elevator is the clearest case, not the only one. At many stations with two elevators, one runs from the street to the mezzanine and the other from the mezzanine to the platform, or each serves one platform. One outage can still cut off a platform. Agency lists don't describe elevators the same way, so those stations can't yet be counted with one rule across systems.
• Elevator lists don't record ramps. A station listed here could have a ramp for part of the same trip.
• BART's guide is dated 2022. The WMATA and MBTA lists were read on the data date.
• This brief counts elevators, not how often they break. Outages are tracked on our live elevator maps and will be the subject of a separate annual report.

6Sources

• Washington, DC, Metrorail

  Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

  WMATA elevator and escalator status page (read September 27, 2026)

• Boston, Subway and light rail

  Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)

  MBTA V3 API, elevator facilities (read September 27, 2026)

• San Francisco Bay Area, BART

  San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)

  BART Elevator Dimensions guide (2022)

7Citation and data

Suggested citation

Accessibility Research Lab. (2026). Rail Stations With Only One Elevator, 2026. Is the elevator working? https://www.istheelevatorworking.com/research/one-elevator/2026

Data

Every station and its elevator count are in the full dataset (JSON). This edition will not be changed except to correct errors, which will be dated here.

The dataset is released under CC BY 4.0. Reuse it, including commercially, with credit to “Is the elevator working?” and a link to this brief. The agency data it draws on stays under each agency's own terms. MBTA data is provided by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Corrections and questions

Found an error, or want to work with the data? Write to editors at istheelevatorworking dot com.

Preview image: Street level elevator of Powell St station 20260628 by Evan0512, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.