The subway is tightly woven into the daily routine of many New Yorkers, but it remains largely inaccessible or dangerous to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the city. The recent death of a mother who fell down a flight of stairs while carrying a stroller has drawn new scrutiny to the transit challenges many riders have to overcome every day.

In the city, there are 550,000 residents who have difficulty walking. Two-thirds of them live far from an accessible subway station, a New York Times analysis has found.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Note: The U.S. Census Bureau considers people who report difficulty walking or climbing stairs to have an ambulatory disability.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Note: The U.S. Census Bureau considers people who report difficulty walking or climbing stairs to have an ambulatory disability.

While Manhattan has the most subway stations with elevators, many residents in the rest of the city live far away from an accessible station.

While Manhattan has the most subway stations with elevators, many residents in the rest of the city live far away from an accessible station.

Only about a quarter of the 472 subway stations in the city have elevators — one of the lowest percentages of any major transit system in the world. The map above estimates where people are underserved by showing areas that are more than 10 minutes away from an accessible station, but the number of New Yorkers who have problems accessing the subway is likely to be much higher.

“Many people with disabilities do not walk distances because they cannot stand for a period of time, are fatigued, have pain when walking,” said Susan Dooha, the executive director at the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York.

Most people with disabilities have to rely on an inefficient bus system or the Access-A-Ride program, a paratransit service run by the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that critics say is unreliable.

“I have had several instances where taking public transportation was near to impossible,” said Francisco Paz, who has a mobility disability and commutes from Queens to Staten Island daily for his job at the Center for Independence of the Disabled. “I don’t have any accessible train stations near me, and the bus stops are remote and out in the open, exposed to the elements.”

Parents with strollers also struggle to navigate the subway, as highlighted by the death of Malaysia Goodson last month. Families with young children live in every corner of the city, including large numbers in neighborhoods like Borough Park in southern Brooklyn, northern Corona in Queens and Claremont Village in the Bronx. Many residents of those neighborhoods are not near stations with elevators.

bronx Norwood Claremont Village Population under 5 years old Clason Point 150 300 600 residents 2 miles Corona Glen Oaks manhattan Long Island City Long Island City The southern end of Long Island City has the highest density of young children who live far from an accessible station. Queens Kew Garden Hills Bedford- Stuyvesant Brownsville Lindenwood Mariner’s Harbor Borough Park Canarsie Clifton brooklyn Fox Hills staten island Far Rockaway South Beach Lindenwood More than 1,100 young children live in Lindenwood. Most are up to a 20- minute walk from the nearest accessible subway station. South Beach More than 300 young children in South Beach live far from an accessible station. bronx Norwood Claremont Village Population under 5 years old 150 300 600 residents 2 miles Glen Oaks Corona manhattan Kew Garden Hills Long Island City Queens Lindenwood Mariner’s Harbor Clifton Borough Park Canarsie brooklyn staten island South Beach Population under 5 years old bronx 600 residents 300 150 Norwood Queens Glen Oaks Claremont Village Corona Long Island City manhattan Lindenwood Canarsie brooklyn Borough Park South Beach staten island bronx Population under 5 years old 600 residents 300 150 Norwood Queens Glen Oaks Claremont Village Kew Garden Hills Corona Long Island City manhattan Lindenwood Bedford- Stuyvesant Canarsie brooklyn Borough Park Clifton Mariner’s Harbor South Beach staten island

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to install 50 new elevators over the next five years, and Andy Byford, the subway’s leader, hired Alex Elegudin to be the authority’s first accessibility chief.