Planners Collaborative developed a guidance document for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)to assist passenger railroad operators in identifying design solutions for access to commuter rail passenger coaches by wheelchairs users. The guidance focused on providing level boarding from station platform to passenger car in settings where there is a shared-use track with freight trains. With wide (over-dimension) freight cars requiring clearance and narrower commuter cars operating on the same tracks, the gap between a commuter car and the platform can be substantial. The purpose of this guidance was to identify ways of providing level passenger boarding for all cars on a commuter train.
