SAN FRANCISCO — BART’s filthy, urine-soaked and feces-ridden elevators that are frequently breaking down are just one of the issues that disabilities rights advocates say are violating passengers’ civil rights.

“We share in their endeavor to ensure accessible public services, and understand as both users and operators of the system the hardships that can occur within and around stations,” a statement released Wednesday said.

Among other allegations, the suit claims BART’s failure to maintain its elevators in operable and sanitary conditions, combined with broken accessible fare gates, communication lapses, and an emergency plan that instructs people in wheelchairs to abandon them, is a violation of both federal and state laws.

‘What we are really talking about is civil rights for people with disabilities,” said Rebecca Williford, an attorney with Disability Rights Advocates.

Her organization filed — and won — a nearly identical lawsuit against BART about 20 years ago, she said. As a result of the suit, BART agreed to fix or replace broken escalators and elevators as needed, engage in regular preventative maintenance, ensure accurate, reliable information is distributed to people with disabilities and implement a twice-per-day elevator cleaning regimen.

Things got better for a while, Willford said, but then they got worse.

“Now we are dealing with a system that is 20 years older and more dilapidated,” she said.

That puts plaintiff Ra in a tough position. He has broken bones in his foot and a medical condition that prevents his foot from healing. He can’t walk long distances because that might aggravate his foot and at best, leave him with open sores that take weeks to heal, or at worst, force him into a wheelchair or onto a kneechair.

He rides BART five days a week from the Pleasant Hill station to Civic Center. And, depending on which elevator or escalator is out of order, Ra said he often has to go to another station just to get out of BART. The experience often leaves him exhausted, forcing him to take an hour break to recover from his commute before starting work.

“It frustrates me, so I find other ways of dealing with it,” Ra said, continuing, “I smile and say a lot of sarcastic things. But it just throws me off a bit. … I can’t function.”

BART officials said the agency is in the midst of executing an “aggressive,” $16.3 million program to improve its escalators and elevators. The agency has also earmarked an additional $190 million for station access improvements at downtown San Francisco stations as part of the $3.5 billion bond voters approved in November.

Reached Wednesday, BART board Director Lateefah Simon, who is herself legally blind, acknowledged that people with disabilities have real grievances when it comes to accessing the transit system.

“While I haven’t read the complaint, I am clear that we have a long way to go to get to the goal of providing true and correct access to all transit riders,” Simon said. “It’s an issue that is not only dear to my heart, it’s my lifeblood. It’s how I commute to work. It’s how I get my daughter to school.”