Hurricane Sandy slammed into the east coast one year ago on Oct. 29, killing hundreds of people from Jamaica to New England, causing more than $65 billion in damage in the United States, shutting down communities in 24 states, and forcing several public transit systems to close. Agencies that experienced particularly severe damage included the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, New Jersey Transit Corporation, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Passenger Transport reported that within three weeks public transit systems began making an extraordinary comeback and were either fully back in service or quickly restoring service to millions of riders. Over the year, public transit systems have  continued to repair, restore, or rebuild heavily damaged infrastructure; replace rolling stock and buses; and reopen stations and platforms previously flooded with millions of gallons of saltwater. Additional recovery initiatives include a focus on making public transit systems more resilient to future storms.

Look for more coverage of post-Sandy recovery efforts in the next issue of Passenger Transport.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie  announces NJ TRANSITGRID, a first-of-its kind, storm-resilient microgrid that will supply highly reliable power during storms or other times when the centralized grid is compromised. Also present at the launch were, from left, NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein; N.J. Board of Public Utilities President Bob Hanna; N.J. DOT Commissioner James Simpson; U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz; and Marc-Philip Ferzan, executive director, Governor’s Office of Recovery & Rebuilding. The microgrid will “help keep our public transportation systems running during natural times of disaster, which is critical not only to our economy, but also to emergency and evacuation-related activities,” Christie said. The project is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and New Jersey.

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