$1.4 Billion In Federal Aid Coming For Transit Agencies Hit By Sandy
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Federal money has been flowing into the New York Metro area to help transit agencies hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.
As WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported, a third of the nation's transit riders use the systems most heavily damaged by Sandy, according to Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff.
$1.4 Billion In Federal Aid Coming For Transit Agencies Hit By Sandy
"It was the worst transit disaster in the history of the nation, and that's why we have a national response," Rogoff said.
But as of this week, $1.4 billion was headed to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, PATH, NJ TRANSIT, and the New York City Department of Transportation.
"A lot of this money, and money we hope to put out further from the Federal Transit Administration down the road is really going to go for the permanent repairs -- equipment that is really being held together with wires and duct tape now to keep the service up and running," Rogoff said.
Some of the money will also go toward preventing floods in the future.
Sandy wiped out the South Ferry subway station, and No. 1 trains have been terminating at Rector Street ever since. The old South Ferry station is set to reopen on Monday, while the new one remains out of commission.
The storm also damaged the branch of the A Train line that goes to the Rockaways, and no trains have been running beyond the Howard Beach-John F. Kennedy International Airport and Broad Channel stops.
In the NJ TRANSIT system, nearly a third of the agency's locomotives and a quarter of its rail passenger cars suffered storm damage as they were stored in yards in Hoboken and Kearny – the latter of which is not even 20 feet above sea level.
In total, 62 locomotives, and 261 rail cars, stored in the Meadows complex and in Hoboken during Sandy were water-damaged and out of commission.
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