The MTA and advocates for New York’s disabled have been in a seemingly decades-long fight over accessibility. Faced with an unfunded federal mandate, the MTA agreed to make 100 key stations ADA-accessible by 2020, and although the authority is on pace to do just that, it hasn’t always gone above and beyond what’s required by the letter of the law. Furthermore, as stations themselves become accessible, significant kinks in the system remain.

This week, Michele Kaplan, a wheelchair-bound New Yorker, and DNA Info reporter Janet Upadhye toured the subway system, and from the eyes of one who cannot walk, the picture painted in the article is a grim one. Even as stations themselves are wheelchair-friendly, gaps remain between the train and platform that are too wide or too steep to navigate. Those of us with full use of our legs may not notice the slight step, but it can be a real barrier for wheelchair users. “The elevators make it accessible for me to get to the platform,” Kaplan said. “But some trains are so high above the platform that my wheelchair cannot make it onto the train…This happens all the time. After a long day it’s the worst, because I never know what time I’ll get home.”

The problem persists because train and platform heights are not identical throughout the system, and short of rebuilding every non-conforming platform, the MTA is left with few options. Ramps, employed by commuter rail systems, aren’t practical for the subway, and frustration seems to rule the day. Kaplan has started a Tumblr to document the problem and hopes to raise the issue with MTA head Joe Lhota. A resolution is a long way off.