A year ago, Hurricane Sandy was churning off the East Coast and about to deliver one of the greatest left hooks anyone had ever seen. The storm was projected to make landfall within 100 miles or so of New York City, and would do so at an astronomical high tide. While it was not the strongest storm in the Atlantic Basin's history, it was the largest storm - with a wind shield of 1,100 miles.
That combination led to fears that entire parts of the New York metro area would be flooded out.
Those fears turned out to be right on the money.
Parts of the city and Jersey Shore and Long Island were indeed flooded out and battered by Sandy. While the storm didn't produce the kinds of flooding rains that have been visited by storms like Floyd or Irene, it was the storm surge that caused tremendous damage to New York City. Here are a bunch of before-after photos showing how far we've come in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts.
More than 200 people were killed by the storm in all, including dozens in both New York and New Jersey. The Jersey Shore was battered and some of the most iconic photos were taken from Seaside Heights where the famous rollercoaster and amusement park pier were swallowed up by the angry churning ocean.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were both overrun by the waters in New York Harbor, and it has only been in the last two weeks that the Statue of Liberty was reopened to the public after its piers and electrical systems were repaired. Ellis Island is reopening to the public this week, although many pieces in the museum collection are still undergoing repairs and conservation efforts.
The flood waters inundated Lower Manhattan, Hoboken, Jersey City, and hundreds of miles of shoreline throughout the region.
Communities hardest hit included Breezy Point, Long Beach, Hoboken, and other coastal and low lying areas. Breezy Point was site of one of the worst sights during the crisis - a raging fire during the height of the storm that ended up burning more than a 100 homes with firefighters powerless to do anything. Since then, there have been accusations and lawsuits against Con Ed that they didn't turn power off to the area, which could have saved the area from the fires that started when electrical systems were inundated.
While some are still waiting for insurance to come through or have decided that rebuilding isn't worth the effort and have sought homes on higher ground elsewhere, others have started rebuilding.
Many shore communities have made an effort to rebuild damaged boardwalks. A few were able to rebuild in time for this summer, but many others were only able to get a few sections done or otherwise cleared debris so that beach access was assured.
Yet risks remain from Sandy damage. A devastating fire destroyed more than 50 businesses in Seaside Park just two weeks ago. The fire apparently started in wiring underneath a portion of the town's boardwalk that survived Sandy but was damaged by the flood waters. The damage went undetected until after it caused the fire destroying businesses and buildings that had survived Sandy.
The New York City subways, which famously run 24-7-365, were shut down ahead of the storm. Efforts were made to try and protect key assets - the tunnels and entrances in low lying areas, but those efforts failed in Lower Manhattan as the temporary measures were no match for the historic storm surge that flooded Lower Manhattan and crippled the MTA's subway system.
In all 9 subway tunnels were flooded, and repairs to those tunnels will continue for the foreseeable future. One, the Montague Tube, will be out of service for more than a year as the entire tunnel needs to be rebuild and reinforced against future storm damage. Every piece of electronic gear, every switch, every signal, and even the rails and ties, have to be replaced because they sat in the salt water that flooded the tunnels. The MTA's ability to get the system largely up and running, including a bus bridge while the subway service was being restored will be a case-study in how to deal with disaster management for decades to come. It also once again showed how and why the subway system is so critical to a functioning and growing metropolis like New York City. It's why the City and State must come up with the money to invest in growing the system and reinforcing and modernizing the system. The subways are integral to the city's very survival and nothing can replace a functioning subway system or else the city will grind to a halt under the strain of too many people trying to get to their places of employment.
While the MTA heroically managed to get service restored quickly, including to the A line to the Rockaways that was washed out by the storm surge in Jamaica Bay, the system continues to be plagued by delays and signal failures throughout the affected subway tunnels and flooded areas due to salt water corrosion. All of those issues will have to be addressed to keep the system functioning. Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a point of touting the MTA restoration efforts, but he's refused thus far to commit to increasing the state aid to the MTA to rebuild and reinforce the system further adding to the agency's debt load as it needs to borrow to make the necessary improvements. That's a substantial failure on his part.
Across the Hudson, NJ Transit is still dealing with all the damage to its system, and the fact that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie refuses to take action against James Weinstein for not implementing and overseeing the protection of the rail fleet that ended up being purposefully stored in flood zones in Kearny's Meadows Yard and Hoboken's terminal yard. It's understandable that damage to fixed equipment - the switches and repair facilities - couldn't be reduced due to their location, but the rail fleet suffered damage that continued to hamper commuters for months after. That was completely avoidable. NJ Transit ignored flooding risks and allowed hundreds of railcars and locomotives to be flooded out. The damage has yet to be completely repaired.
The Port Authority's bridges and tunnels weathered the storm mostly intact, but there was significant damage at LaGuardia Airport, where flooding swept through the terminals and into the parking lots, and PATH was completely overwhelmed between Hoboken and World Trade Center. It took months before service was restored.
The rebuilding around the region continues to be uneven as insurance companies, FEMA, and state and localities are dealing with all kinds of issues. Some areas have been bought out by the government so as to return those areas to marsh lands instead of development.
Other parts are building new and improved reinforced dune networks - steel sheet piles buried underneath sand dunes planted with sea grass. Some of those efforts have been hampered by landowners who protest the eminent domain easements necessary to allow their construction. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the added value of sand dune protection must be weighed against any potential lost views. Frankly, the fact that the person lost views ignores the fact that the sand dunes act to protect those homes and the homes of their neighbors from the devastating storm surge.
The Hurricane also provided yet another clarifying moment when Congressional Republicans basically thwarted any action to fund rebuilding aid, re-funding the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and delayed action for 91 days. Many of these same Republicans have their hands out with no strings attached and no conditions when disaster aid is requested for their own districts, but they demanded that any disaster aid include offsets from other parts of the budget, and otherwise imposed conditions on disaster aid that had not been done in any prior instance.
The delay had real ramifications - delaying the time for which people could be reimbursed from the NFIP, including for floods occurring elsewhere in the country as well as in the New York metro area.
Utilities are still dealing with the disaster too - having to ramp up their efforts to disaster-proof their systems. Sandy revealed that far too many key assets are in flood zones and that the utilities are ill prepared to deal with the scope of damage. New Jersey's PSE&G fared far better than other New Jersey utilities, but power-restoration efforts were far slower than anyone wants. PSE&G has proposed a multi-year multi-billion dollar improvement project, which includes taller power poles that are more resistant to wind and tree damage, and new gear that reduces the chances that downed lines and poles take out power adjacent power lines. Despite those improvements, there are communities that are balking at the taller poles, complaining that it changes the character of their towns. It's NIMBYism at its core, but these will be some of the same people who will complain loudest when the power goes out.
The power outages also caused significant shortages of gasoline - and while New York State is building a gas reserve to deal with future disasters, efforts to require gas stations to have generators on hand to power the pumps when the power goes out have faltered. That's a mistake.
A gas reserve doesn't matter much if the gas stations lack the power to operate the pumps. An effort should be made to require gas stations that are renovating or replacing their gas tanks to upgrade to include generator backups - whether portable generators or fixed generators on site to provide backup. The gas shortages meant long lines and the governors in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut were forced to impose odd-even rationing to make sure that lines weren't out of control.
Cross Posted at LGF.
Showing posts with label Hurricane Sandy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hurricane Sandy. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Gov. Christie Must Fire NJ Transit Officials For Failing To Follow Rail Plan Before Sandy
Governor Chris Christie has given his blessing and backing to NJ Transit officials in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated NJ Transit's rail fleet. 343 railcars and locomotives were flooded and damaged. A portion of the fleet remains out of service due to flood damage.
The costs are in the hundreds of millions, and yet NJ Transit officials have skated by despite incontrovertible evidence that they didn't move equipment to higher ground. They claimed that they didn't have alternative locations.
A damning new report by the Bergen Record shows a completely different story. The paper made a freedom of information request, and the document highlights the absolute incompetence of transit officials.
It indicates that the transit agency had a basic flood contingency plan that included moving its equipment to higher ground. That included moving its rail fleet to areas in Waldwick, the Bergen Tunnels, and several other locations.
That's exactly what I and many other rail critics have said from day one. There was no reason for the agency to store its equipment in the lowest-lying areas when they had alternatives along their own rights of way that were safer.
The Main/Bergen Line was particularly affected because its equipment was stored in Hoboken; had the equipment been stored instead in Waldwick, the service could have been restored weeks sooner.
Yet NJ Transit's Jim Weinstein has lied to anyone and everyone that there was nothing they could have done to prevent the kind of damage done to the fleet.
Gov. Christie has given Weinstein political cover, and that itself is a boneheaded move. To put this in to terms that anyone can understand - NJ Transit lied to the public. It lied to state officials. It even lied to Congress. Gov. Christie has to fire Weinstein and everyone involved in the decision not only to move the rail fleet to higher ground, but to move equipment into Hoboken and Kearney's low-lying rail yards.
NJ Transit is still trying to recover from the damage; this week NJ Transit is finally reopening the restrooms at Hoboken Yards, although the waiting area at Hoboken is a mess and the shops and restaurants in the terminal are still closed due to flood damage.
No more excuses Gov. Christie. It's past time to act and fire Weinstein and rail officials. They failed the agency, the state, and commuters. They directly harmed the state's economy by complying with their own plans to store equipment on higher ground that would have gotten rail operations back on track weeks faster than they did. As it is, parts of the rail schedule are still not back to 100% of the pre-storm schedule.
The agency doesn't have the equipment on hand to handle disruptions that can crop up on a normal basis. Trains are less reliable due to storm damage, and that means there are more delays than normal. All this affects the ridership and undermines efforts to convince people to use mass transit.
The costs are in the hundreds of millions, and yet NJ Transit officials have skated by despite incontrovertible evidence that they didn't move equipment to higher ground. They claimed that they didn't have alternative locations.
A damning new report by the Bergen Record shows a completely different story. The paper made a freedom of information request, and the document highlights the absolute incompetence of transit officials.
Only after The Record filed a public-records suit did the transit agency release a 3½-page copy of a hurricane plan prepared four months before the storm that advised transferring commuter trains to several upland sites. Nowhere did the plan recommend what NJ Transit ended up doing: moving millions of dollars worth of railcars and engines to a low-lying yard near water, where they were inundated by Sandy’s storm surge.
The NJ Transit document stands in stark contrast to the more detailed hurricane plan prepared by New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority, which, taking into account concerns about global warming, enabled the transit system to move the vast majority of its trains to higher ground, saving all but 11 of its railcars from flood damage.
The damage to 343 pieces of NJ Transit equipment in low-lying yards in Kearny and Hoboken — 70 locomotives and 273 railcars, a third of the railroad’s fleet — is estimated at $120 million. The damaged equipment also included seven railcars and seven locomotives owned by the MTA that NJ Transit stored in Kearny, site of the agency’s sprawling Meadows Maintenance Complex.
The “NJ Transit Rail Operations Hurricane Plan” prepared in June 2012 directs NJ Transit’s train crews to move railcars and locomotives “from flood-prone areas to higher ground” in the event of a hurricane or severe tropical storm. The plan is brief, but it lists more than a half-dozen locations where equipment is to be moved.
Commuter railcars and locomotives used on the Main and Bergen lines would be stored in the Waldwick Yard, according to the plan. Equipment serving the agency’s Hoboken Division would be stored in the Bergen Tunnels under the Palisades. And cars and engines serving the Atlantic City Line would be moved to a yard in central South Jersey.
It indicates that the transit agency had a basic flood contingency plan that included moving its equipment to higher ground. That included moving its rail fleet to areas in Waldwick, the Bergen Tunnels, and several other locations.
That's exactly what I and many other rail critics have said from day one. There was no reason for the agency to store its equipment in the lowest-lying areas when they had alternatives along their own rights of way that were safer.
The Main/Bergen Line was particularly affected because its equipment was stored in Hoboken; had the equipment been stored instead in Waldwick, the service could have been restored weeks sooner.
Yet NJ Transit's Jim Weinstein has lied to anyone and everyone that there was nothing they could have done to prevent the kind of damage done to the fleet.
Gov. Christie has given Weinstein political cover, and that itself is a boneheaded move. To put this in to terms that anyone can understand - NJ Transit lied to the public. It lied to state officials. It even lied to Congress. Gov. Christie has to fire Weinstein and everyone involved in the decision not only to move the rail fleet to higher ground, but to move equipment into Hoboken and Kearney's low-lying rail yards.
NJ Transit is still trying to recover from the damage; this week NJ Transit is finally reopening the restrooms at Hoboken Yards, although the waiting area at Hoboken is a mess and the shops and restaurants in the terminal are still closed due to flood damage.
No more excuses Gov. Christie. It's past time to act and fire Weinstein and rail officials. They failed the agency, the state, and commuters. They directly harmed the state's economy by complying with their own plans to store equipment on higher ground that would have gotten rail operations back on track weeks faster than they did. As it is, parts of the rail schedule are still not back to 100% of the pre-storm schedule.
The agency doesn't have the equipment on hand to handle disruptions that can crop up on a normal basis. Trains are less reliable due to storm damage, and that means there are more delays than normal. All this affects the ridership and undermines efforts to convince people to use mass transit.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
The MTA Announces Major Disruptions on R Line To Solve Sandy Flooding Damage
The MTA in NYC finally got all of its routes restored this past week, with the A running back out to the Rockaways, but they've also announced that they've got to take one of the Sandy damaged tunnels out of service to basically gut the entire thing and rebuild from scratch due to the damage done.
The alternative - shutdowns on nights/weekends, would have meant service disruptions and never being able to get ahead of all the problems.
This is expected to take about $100 million and 12-14 months. This particular tunnel was the hardest hit by Sandy, and took the longest to restore to service, but has been plagued with signal and electric power problems ever since.
The work involves:
That's not acceptable, but no one seems to have a way to find the funding to make that happen.
Work on the Montague tube, which connects Brooklyn and Manhattan under the East River, will likely begin in August and is expected to last 12 to 14 months, officials said.The Montague Street Tunnel serves the R train, and the MTA figures it will take about a year to do all the work.
The tube carries the R train, which takes tens of thousands of riders to Manhattan from southern Brooklyn.
An MTA official told the Wall Street Journal that lingering corrosion from the floodwaters is damaging equipment and wires, frequently causing system failures.
It will cost at least $100 million to replace the damaged parts in the Montague tunnel, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The alternative - shutdowns on nights/weekends, would have meant service disruptions and never being able to get ahead of all the problems.
This is expected to take about $100 million and 12-14 months. This particular tunnel was the hardest hit by Sandy, and took the longest to restore to service, but has been plagued with signal and electric power problems ever since.
The work involves:
Work includes the demolition of existing duct banks; removal & disposal of existing tunnel lighting, conduits, wiring, fixtures, ballast & receptacles; construction of new duct banks; installation of new Power & Communications cables in the new duct banks; reconstruction of circuit breaker houses CBH # 82, CBH # 83 & CBH # 91; rehabilitation of two substations (Montague Furman Substation & Broadway-Park Row Substation); new tunnel lighting including fixtures, wiring, & conduit; replacing isolation dampers & wiring for the fan plant; replacement of three submersible pumps & new AC/DC lighting at the pump rooms; track work including new rails & plates; installation of new 8" dry discharge line in both tubes; painting & lead abatement.The biggest problem is the one that isn't mentioned. Hardening against future storms isn't part of this plan. That means another Sandy-type storm would put the entire system back into a crisis with no option except to watch the system flood and pump it out and try to restore service.
That's not acceptable, but no one seems to have a way to find the funding to make that happen.
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Senate Will Finally Vote on $50.5 Billion Sandy Aid Package
91 days.
That's how many days since Hurricane Sandy slammed ashore along the New Jersey and New York coast and caused billions upon billions of dollars in damage and crippled the region for weeks on end.
Sandy washed ashore at the end of October, which means that there are many who are without heat and power still - in the depths of winter at a time when Congress couldn't get its act together. The New York City metro area is getting hit with a wintry mix today before the middle of the week turns into Indian summer as temps are supposed to get up to 60.
The fact that the winter for the most part has been mild and had lower than normal precipitation levels has made things only slightly more tolerable for those who are still waiting for assistance. The last week, however, has been super rough on those who are still without heat or electricity due to storm damage with frigid temps.
The Senate is finally going to vote on the $50.5 billion aid package today, which means that President Obama will likely sign later this week. It's absolutely unconscionable and unforgivable that it has taken 3 months to get aid approved.
It's unforgivable that the House GOP screwed with the Sandy victims in this way - forcing multiple votes and imposing standards that they themselves would never tolerate on any aid that would be forthcoming to them if they were in dire need of disaster assistance (and far too many of these sanctimonious GOPers are in districts prone to natural disasters of one sort or another - flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes).
The Record assembled a list of votes on disaster aid, and while noting that most aid packages had some level of opposition, that was due as much or more so to the fact that the aid was attached to other unrelated items such as Iraq or Afghanistan war funding and the purpose of attaching disaster aid was as much a political decision as a functional one.
Fact is that the Sandy aid was a clean bill - it wasn't attached to anything even resembling anything controversial. It was Republican obstinancy and demands for offsetting cuts that forced multiple votes and delays that pushed aid into a three month delay. No other initial disposition of aid after a natural disaster took so long.
That there were so many opposed to restoring the flood insurance program's solvency shows just how far off the rails Republicans have gone. Flooding is the single most common natural disaster cost. It occurs anywhere in the nation - witness extreme flooding from severe storms in places like Arizona or Utah as well as along coasts, mountain areas, and inland around rivers. Yet, dozens upon dozens of Republicans voted against this program even as they were touting the National Flood Insurance Program on their own official websites. It was and is the height of hypocrisy.
The Republican mantra has been we need offsetting revenues, ignoring the fact that getting businesses and residences back in operation will generate revenue, eliminate uncertainty and restore the economic activity in a region that is still affected by the disaster and which generates a significant portion of the nation's economic output. There's a Senate Republican amendment to demand just that - offsetting cuts, but it's not expected to get approved.
The Senate's delay in getting the aid package to vote on after the House passed is worth noting as well, but the real delay was due to the House GOP screwing with the affected areas and failing to act on the reconstruction aid before the 2012 Congressional session came to an end and the entire process had to start anew.
Blame resides with them and their asinine claims of pork.
To this day, there are some who claim that the aid package is full of pork, and yet when one reads the bill, you'd be hard pressed to find anything of the sort. What some referred to pork was aid for damage due to natural disasters in other parts of the country, such as the $150 million aid package put into the original bill by Alaska Republicans to aid fisheries there.
The damage tally to the infrastructure keeps coming in. NJ Transit's infrastructure is still recovering, and Hoboken Terminal isn't operating at full capacity, and customer services are nonexistent - no heated waiting areas or restroom facilities. It's taken weeks for the agency (through its own incompetence by the way) to get around to addressing those issues by reserving trains for restrooms and to keep customers warm while waiting for trains.
PATH is still operating at a reduced schedule and there's no service between the World Trade Center and Hoboken because of the need to procure parts. They have to replace decades old equipment, which wont arrive until the end of next month meaning that it will be March at the earliest before full service is restored (and revenue service can resume).
That's how many days since Hurricane Sandy slammed ashore along the New Jersey and New York coast and caused billions upon billions of dollars in damage and crippled the region for weeks on end.
Sandy washed ashore at the end of October, which means that there are many who are without heat and power still - in the depths of winter at a time when Congress couldn't get its act together. The New York City metro area is getting hit with a wintry mix today before the middle of the week turns into Indian summer as temps are supposed to get up to 60.
The fact that the winter for the most part has been mild and had lower than normal precipitation levels has made things only slightly more tolerable for those who are still waiting for assistance. The last week, however, has been super rough on those who are still without heat or electricity due to storm damage with frigid temps.
The Senate is finally going to vote on the $50.5 billion aid package today, which means that President Obama will likely sign later this week. It's absolutely unconscionable and unforgivable that it has taken 3 months to get aid approved.
It's unforgivable that the House GOP screwed with the Sandy victims in this way - forcing multiple votes and imposing standards that they themselves would never tolerate on any aid that would be forthcoming to them if they were in dire need of disaster assistance (and far too many of these sanctimonious GOPers are in districts prone to natural disasters of one sort or another - flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes).
The Record assembled a list of votes on disaster aid, and while noting that most aid packages had some level of opposition, that was due as much or more so to the fact that the aid was attached to other unrelated items such as Iraq or Afghanistan war funding and the purpose of attaching disaster aid was as much a political decision as a functional one.
Fact is that the Sandy aid was a clean bill - it wasn't attached to anything even resembling anything controversial. It was Republican obstinancy and demands for offsetting cuts that forced multiple votes and delays that pushed aid into a three month delay. No other initial disposition of aid after a natural disaster took so long.
That there were so many opposed to restoring the flood insurance program's solvency shows just how far off the rails Republicans have gone. Flooding is the single most common natural disaster cost. It occurs anywhere in the nation - witness extreme flooding from severe storms in places like Arizona or Utah as well as along coasts, mountain areas, and inland around rivers. Yet, dozens upon dozens of Republicans voted against this program even as they were touting the National Flood Insurance Program on their own official websites. It was and is the height of hypocrisy.
The Republican mantra has been we need offsetting revenues, ignoring the fact that getting businesses and residences back in operation will generate revenue, eliminate uncertainty and restore the economic activity in a region that is still affected by the disaster and which generates a significant portion of the nation's economic output. There's a Senate Republican amendment to demand just that - offsetting cuts, but it's not expected to get approved.
The Senate's delay in getting the aid package to vote on after the House passed is worth noting as well, but the real delay was due to the House GOP screwing with the affected areas and failing to act on the reconstruction aid before the 2012 Congressional session came to an end and the entire process had to start anew.
Blame resides with them and their asinine claims of pork.
To this day, there are some who claim that the aid package is full of pork, and yet when one reads the bill, you'd be hard pressed to find anything of the sort. What some referred to pork was aid for damage due to natural disasters in other parts of the country, such as the $150 million aid package put into the original bill by Alaska Republicans to aid fisheries there.
The damage tally to the infrastructure keeps coming in. NJ Transit's infrastructure is still recovering, and Hoboken Terminal isn't operating at full capacity, and customer services are nonexistent - no heated waiting areas or restroom facilities. It's taken weeks for the agency (through its own incompetence by the way) to get around to addressing those issues by reserving trains for restrooms and to keep customers warm while waiting for trains.
PATH is still operating at a reduced schedule and there's no service between the World Trade Center and Hoboken because of the need to procure parts. They have to replace decades old equipment, which wont arrive until the end of next month meaning that it will be March at the earliest before full service is restored (and revenue service can resume).
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Gov. Christie Takes House GOP and Rep. Boehner to Task For Screwing Sandy Victims
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave a press conference today following sending a letter to Congressional leaders along with Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York.
It was a real barn burner and the focus of his righteous ire was the mess created by House Republicans. Members of his own political party, and specifically, Speaker John Boehner, screwed victims of Hurricane Sandy in the name of politics.
This was a speech that shows Gov. Christie was on the job and knew what his job was. Christie did what he was elected to do. The job of governing for the state of New Jersey and making sure that the state gets the aid it needed and was promised. He gave thanks to those who were involved in those efforts - including his long time political nemeses in Bob Menendez and other NJ Democrats, because they too were doing the job that they were elected to do - making sure that they got Sandy aid done.
He thanked the President, because he too got the job done.
You know who didn't? The GOP and Boehner in particular. It's been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit, and three weeks since the $60b aid package was submitted. The House has sat on the bill for three weeks.
They did nothing.
It speaks to the gross incompetence on the part of the GOP and the House in particular. There was no excuse.
Christie let them know it in no uncertain terms. This was a BS manufactured crisis (the fiscal cliff/debt ceiling/tax rate), and it's all on Congress for failing the people of New Jersey and New York and others affected by Sandy.
New Jersey (and New York) pay more to the feds than it gets back normally. Now, it's asking for assistance over a true natural disaster of massive proportions along the East Coast, and the GOP abdicated its responsibilities. In fact, the House specifically adjourned at 2pm today rather than taking up the bill and passing it.
Some GOPers and right wingers were carping on pork - or more specifically $400m in unrelated items. Yet, the final House version (the pair of bifurcated bills - itself a move to try and get something done on the part of Rep. Eric Cantor and the NJ delegation) and the Senate bill had excised that stuff leaving a clean bill.
There were no excuses. Nothing. All Christie got from Boehner's office was nothing but static, and Christie let everyone know he wont stand for that.
That's not bluster. That's calling it as it is.
After the Christie presser, Boehner attempted to make amends, and his compromise is to address about $9b in aid in a vote on Friday, with the balance of of $51b to be voted on January 15.
To some, this may seem like a fair deal, but that's absolute rubbish.
At no time in prior Congressional actions on natural disasters did they dither in this fashion.
At no time did Congress bifurcate a disaster aid package - essentially forcing two votes where only one was necessary.
There's no reason that the full $60b package couldn't be voted on today, or on Friday. The delays have real world consequences.
It affects contracting for restoration of infrastructure and projects critical to rebuilding. It delays private businesses from moving forward with their own rebuilding efforts since they need that infrastructure rebuilt before committing to their own rebuilding.
These delays are wholly on the GOP leadership and Speaker Boehner. And he deserves all the excoriation and derision directed at them because had this been put up to a straight floor vote, it would have been adopted handily.
Boehner and the GOP leaders played political games with the disaster aid.
It was a real barn burner and the focus of his righteous ire was the mess created by House Republicans. Members of his own political party, and specifically, Speaker John Boehner, screwed victims of Hurricane Sandy in the name of politics.
This was a speech that shows Gov. Christie was on the job and knew what his job was. Christie did what he was elected to do. The job of governing for the state of New Jersey and making sure that the state gets the aid it needed and was promised. He gave thanks to those who were involved in those efforts - including his long time political nemeses in Bob Menendez and other NJ Democrats, because they too were doing the job that they were elected to do - making sure that they got Sandy aid done.
He thanked the President, because he too got the job done.
You know who didn't? The GOP and Boehner in particular. It's been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit, and three weeks since the $60b aid package was submitted. The House has sat on the bill for three weeks.
They did nothing.
It speaks to the gross incompetence on the part of the GOP and the House in particular. There was no excuse.
Christie let them know it in no uncertain terms. This was a BS manufactured crisis (the fiscal cliff/debt ceiling/tax rate), and it's all on Congress for failing the people of New Jersey and New York and others affected by Sandy.
New Jersey (and New York) pay more to the feds than it gets back normally. Now, it's asking for assistance over a true natural disaster of massive proportions along the East Coast, and the GOP abdicated its responsibilities. In fact, the House specifically adjourned at 2pm today rather than taking up the bill and passing it.
Some GOPers and right wingers were carping on pork - or more specifically $400m in unrelated items. Yet, the final House version (the pair of bifurcated bills - itself a move to try and get something done on the part of Rep. Eric Cantor and the NJ delegation) and the Senate bill had excised that stuff leaving a clean bill.
There were no excuses. Nothing. All Christie got from Boehner's office was nothing but static, and Christie let everyone know he wont stand for that.
That's not bluster. That's calling it as it is.
After the Christie presser, Boehner attempted to make amends, and his compromise is to address about $9b in aid in a vote on Friday, with the balance of of $51b to be voted on January 15.
To some, this may seem like a fair deal, but that's absolute rubbish.
At no time in prior Congressional actions on natural disasters did they dither in this fashion.
At no time did Congress bifurcate a disaster aid package - essentially forcing two votes where only one was necessary.
There's no reason that the full $60b package couldn't be voted on today, or on Friday. The delays have real world consequences.
It affects contracting for restoration of infrastructure and projects critical to rebuilding. It delays private businesses from moving forward with their own rebuilding efforts since they need that infrastructure rebuilt before committing to their own rebuilding.
These delays are wholly on the GOP leadership and Speaker Boehner. And he deserves all the excoriation and derision directed at them because had this been put up to a straight floor vote, it would have been adopted handily.
Boehner and the GOP leaders played political games with the disaster aid.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Another Report Shows NJ Transit Ignored Flooding Risks
NJ Transit continues to show that it ignored reports and warnings that its facilities in Hoboken and Kearny were in flood zones and equipment and materials stored there could be subject to flooding.
A report studying climate change and its effect on NJ Transit highlighted that both Kearny and Hoboken were in flood zones.
Jim Weinstein, the agency's executive director, has repeatedly claimed that it didn't get warnings that its facilities would flood, and that it was the agency's experience from past storms that they wouldn't flood.
Well, they did - and the flooding caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to a third of its rail fleet. The damaged and lost equipment has meant that service is still not back to normal.
NJ Transit knew that there was a risk of flooding in those storage yards, yet it didn't move the equipment to higher ground because it believed that those areas were safe from flooding.
The agency ignored warnings issued by the National Weather Service, other weather agencies, and anyone who listened to weather reports 48 hours before Sandy hit knew that this would cause massive amounts of flooding to low lying areas. That includes Kearny and Hoboken.
That's exactly what happened.
One doesn't have to believe in global warming to know that having rail maintenance facilities in flood zones exposes those facilities to potential flooding. NJ Transit did nothing to move the equipment out of those areas before the storm hit, claiming that by moving it to other areas that it would expose them to damage. That's nonsense and they know it. There were places up and down the Northeast Corridor and other NJ Transit lines that the equipment could be stowed more safely. It chose not to do so.
The agency claimed that had it stored equipment on other lines, it could be subjected to downed trees or downed power lines. Both are technically correct, but if NJ Transit maintained its rights of way (or on lines operated by freight rail or Amtrak) by properly trimming trees, then the damage would have been minimized.
NJ Transit is great at making excuses for its inexcusable actions, but not so great at providing rail services or communicating with the public. Heck, they rationalize poor communications and misleading service updates by saying that they're doing so despite the tremendous damage done to their system. It's nonsense.
The MTA could do a fantastic job with even greater damage done to its system. It wasn't the damage. It's the NJ Transit's missteps and miscommunication.
Excuses wont cut it. Things have to change at the agency, and that means that Gov. Christie and the legislature needs to come down hard on Weinstein and company.
A report studying climate change and its effect on NJ Transit highlighted that both Kearny and Hoboken were in flood zones.
The $45,990 study included a map that shows the Kearny and Hoboken rail yards sit squarely in “storm surge areas.” Sandy floodwaters inundated both yards, swamping locomotives and rail¬cars — including 84 new multilevel passenger cars — and damaging spare parts. In those two yards, damage to railcars and locomotives was estimated at $100 million.The report didn't specify a specific storm, but that's actually besides the point.
Nearly two months after the storm hit, NJ Transit’s rail service is still not operating at 100 percent. And the decision to leave locomotives and passenger cars in the low-lying yards has provoked a torrent of criticism from lawmakers and rail advocates. Throughout it all, NJ Transit officials, at hearings in Trenton and Washington, D.C., have maintained that they had no prior knowledge the yards could flood.
“I wish I had had the foresight and the understanding to know that a yard in the Meadowlands, in Kearny, that the western part of the yard in Hoboken, which had never flooded before, was going to flood. But I didn’t,” Executive Director Jim Weinstein told the Assembly Transportation Committee during a Dec. 10 hearing that focused largely on the agency’s costly decision not to move the equipment out of harm’s way.
“We now know under the right circumstances that they are prone to flooding,” Weinstein told the committee.
Weinstein has repeatedly said that NJ Transit made the right decision to leave hundreds of pieces of equipment in the two yards, based on what the agency knew at the time. Of them, 323 pieces were damaged.
“There is no history of flooding at the Meadowlands Maintenance Complex,” he said.
NJ Transit spokesman John Durso Jr. said the report was read by David Gillespie, NJ Transit’s director of energy and sustainability, but characterized it as “generic,” with no specific predictions for flooding of the magnitude caused by Sandy.
NJ Transit hired First Environment Inc. of Boonton in 2011 to look at climate change and the risk weather events, such as rising seawater levels, wind velocity and temperatures, pose to NJ Transit bridges, tunnels, culverts, rails, terminals, stations, platforms, offices and other assets over the next 20 years. The report listed strategies the agency can use to minimize weather-related damage to its assets, and guide NJ Transit in capital planning.
It concluded that NJ Transit “will continue to experience weather-related impacts … can expect more frequent service disruptions over the next 20 years and must consider how the weather is affecting the state of good repair for its assets. The “next immediate step for NJ Transit is to prioritize its critical assets and determine … strategies it wants to implement,” the report said.
Jim Weinstein, the agency's executive director, has repeatedly claimed that it didn't get warnings that its facilities would flood, and that it was the agency's experience from past storms that they wouldn't flood.
Well, they did - and the flooding caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to a third of its rail fleet. The damaged and lost equipment has meant that service is still not back to normal.
NJ Transit knew that there was a risk of flooding in those storage yards, yet it didn't move the equipment to higher ground because it believed that those areas were safe from flooding.
The agency ignored warnings issued by the National Weather Service, other weather agencies, and anyone who listened to weather reports 48 hours before Sandy hit knew that this would cause massive amounts of flooding to low lying areas. That includes Kearny and Hoboken.
That's exactly what happened.
One doesn't have to believe in global warming to know that having rail maintenance facilities in flood zones exposes those facilities to potential flooding. NJ Transit did nothing to move the equipment out of those areas before the storm hit, claiming that by moving it to other areas that it would expose them to damage. That's nonsense and they know it. There were places up and down the Northeast Corridor and other NJ Transit lines that the equipment could be stowed more safely. It chose not to do so.
The agency claimed that had it stored equipment on other lines, it could be subjected to downed trees or downed power lines. Both are technically correct, but if NJ Transit maintained its rights of way (or on lines operated by freight rail or Amtrak) by properly trimming trees, then the damage would have been minimized.
NJ Transit is great at making excuses for its inexcusable actions, but not so great at providing rail services or communicating with the public. Heck, they rationalize poor communications and misleading service updates by saying that they're doing so despite the tremendous damage done to their system. It's nonsense.
The MTA could do a fantastic job with even greater damage done to its system. It wasn't the damage. It's the NJ Transit's missteps and miscommunication.
Excuses wont cut it. Things have to change at the agency, and that means that Gov. Christie and the legislature needs to come down hard on Weinstein and company.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Case Against NJ Transit's James Weinstein
Jim Weinstein is the executive director of NJ Transit and his latest round of hearings with members of Congress and the New Jersey legislature raise questions about how the agency was run before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy made landfall.
The main focus has been on how and why the agency failed to move more than 300 railcars out of flood zones in Kearny and Hoboken. That's a more than valid line of questions, and Weinstein and NJ Transit answers are anything but satisfactory.
It shows a disregard for the severity of the impending storm, and those decisions have long-lasting repercussions.
Case in point is word today that train service to Hoboken for electrified lines will be two months away from restoration. Fully replacing the damaged power substation in Hoboken would take more than a year.
However, this situation calls out for the dual mode trains that NJ Transit purchased at a cost of more than $11 million a pop. Those trains were purchased because of their flexibility to address the fact that some portions of the NJ Transit system was electrified with overhead power lines (catenary) and other portions were not.
Nine of those trains are missing in action because they were among the 300+ cars and locomotives that were flooded out by Sandy in the Hoboken and Kearny yards.
In other words, the key equipment that could restore service to full functionality at Hoboken is unavailable because it was flooded out because of the failure to move that equipment to higher ground.
Weinstein has been going around saying that service has been largely restored and that most lines are back to full service, and yet his agency and his decisions led to significant portions of that system to see reduced service for weeks and months on end because they didn't move the equipment that could be moved to higher ground.
Dual mode trains would allow the Gladstone Branch and MidTown Direct service to return to full capacity in Hoboken until power is fully restored. That those trains are unavailable because they weren't relocated to a safer location is a decision that rests on Weinstein.
After all, the agency claimed that these locomotives were necessary even after the cancellation of the ARC tunnel project and that they could be repurposed for use elsewhere in the rail system.
I've noted that as well - the trains could help improve air quality at Hoboken and permit expanded service on electrified lines.
Now, they sit along with hundreds of other railcars waiting to be repaired from flood damage.
The delays in restoring rail service have been exacerbated by the flooded cars, and the agency has obfuscated on this point repeatedly. We need to get to the bottom of this, and Weinstein must be held accountable. That means that Gov. Chris Christie needs to get involved and make him accountable for the agency's failures.
The main focus has been on how and why the agency failed to move more than 300 railcars out of flood zones in Kearny and Hoboken. That's a more than valid line of questions, and Weinstein and NJ Transit answers are anything but satisfactory.
It shows a disregard for the severity of the impending storm, and those decisions have long-lasting repercussions.
Case in point is word today that train service to Hoboken for electrified lines will be two months away from restoration. Fully replacing the damaged power substation in Hoboken would take more than a year.
Trains that run on diesel power are able to use the station. The Gladstone branch, which normally runs on electric power, has had to use diesel, which means service on some of the other lines has been cut back to compensate.Equipment that can't be moved is susceptible to flooding when it's placed in a flood zone. The agency is now looking at a long range rebuilding plan that includes moving the equipment to higher ground and reduce the chances of a repeat failing performance.
NJ Transit executive James Weinstein told the agency's monthly board meeting Thursday that it will take eight to 10 weeks to finish an interim replacement for the destroyed substation. Weinstein said it could take a year or more to finish a permanent substation.
However, this situation calls out for the dual mode trains that NJ Transit purchased at a cost of more than $11 million a pop. Those trains were purchased because of their flexibility to address the fact that some portions of the NJ Transit system was electrified with overhead power lines (catenary) and other portions were not.
Nine of those trains are missing in action because they were among the 300+ cars and locomotives that were flooded out by Sandy in the Hoboken and Kearny yards.
In other words, the key equipment that could restore service to full functionality at Hoboken is unavailable because it was flooded out because of the failure to move that equipment to higher ground.
Weinstein has been going around saying that service has been largely restored and that most lines are back to full service, and yet his agency and his decisions led to significant portions of that system to see reduced service for weeks and months on end because they didn't move the equipment that could be moved to higher ground.
Dual mode trains would allow the Gladstone Branch and MidTown Direct service to return to full capacity in Hoboken until power is fully restored. That those trains are unavailable because they weren't relocated to a safer location is a decision that rests on Weinstein.
After all, the agency claimed that these locomotives were necessary even after the cancellation of the ARC tunnel project and that they could be repurposed for use elsewhere in the rail system.
I've noted that as well - the trains could help improve air quality at Hoboken and permit expanded service on electrified lines.
Now, they sit along with hundreds of other railcars waiting to be repaired from flood damage.
The delays in restoring rail service have been exacerbated by the flooded cars, and the agency has obfuscated on this point repeatedly. We need to get to the bottom of this, and Weinstein must be held accountable. That means that Gov. Chris Christie needs to get involved and make him accountable for the agency's failures.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Media, Weather Experts Confirm NJ Transit Failed To Heed Flood Warnings
The Star Ledger conducted its own investigation into how NJ Transit managed to flood a third of its rail fleet (more than 300 rail cars and locomotives) by staging them in their Kearny and Hoboken yards.
Despite protestations by NJ Transit chief Jim Weinstein claiming that he didn't have warnings indicating that both locations would flood, The Ledger and other weather experts said that they were absolutely warned of the flood potential and it was hubris or ignorance that led to the flood damage.
It's something I've been saying from the moment we learned that the NJ Transit rail fleet was serious damaged by flooding. We now have still more confirmation that the reason that NJ Transit rail service has been so slow to recover to full service is that they lost so much equipment to flooding that could have been avoided (or at least reduced the chance of damage by moving the equipment to higher ground).
NJ Transit has been repeatedly telling anyone who will listen that they operated on the best information, but that's clearly not the case. The agency has been lying to the likes of the US Senate and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg who let the agency off the hook as well as NJ State Legislators who also were far too lenient in their questioning of NJ Transit officials who bothered to show up for the hearings.
Weinstein says that they now know that Kearny and Hoboken could flood, but the flood forecasts were indicating precisely that ahead of Sandy. No effort was made to move equipment. The excuse was that moving it to higher ground could strand the equipment or expose the equipment to wind-driven storm damage. That's a debatable point to a certain extent, but leaving hundreds of cars in a flood zone exposed all that equipment to damage.
Putting equipment on higher ground would have avoided the serious flood damage. Sure, some equipment could have suffered damage due to downed trees or power lines, but that wouldn't affect entire trains (locomotives plus the normal allotment of cars they pull or push). It would have affected individual cars that could be taken out of service for repairs. Wind damage could also be reduced if NJ Transit did a better job of maintaining its right of way to trim trees that could result in downed lines or damage to equipment.
The agency failed on all accounts, and what's worse is that legislative leaders and Gov. Christie appear willing to let the agency and its top officials avoid taking responsibility for the damage.
The fact that the MTA and Port Authority utilized weather forecasters' expertise throughout the leadup to the storm shows just how off-base the NJ Transit actions were. Both of the other agencies were in close contact with the National Weather Service and other forecasters and both prepared to send equipment to higher ground. The MTA didn't lose equipment to the storm the way NJ Transit did, and were therefore able to resume service far quicker despite serious damage to East River Tunnels and other rail infrastructure.
Saying that NJ Transit will be better prepared going forward isn't sufficient. More must be done to hold NJ Transit officials responsible for their incompetence.
Despite protestations by NJ Transit chief Jim Weinstein claiming that he didn't have warnings indicating that both locations would flood, The Ledger and other weather experts said that they were absolutely warned of the flood potential and it was hubris or ignorance that led to the flood damage.
It's something I've been saying from the moment we learned that the NJ Transit rail fleet was serious damaged by flooding. We now have still more confirmation that the reason that NJ Transit rail service has been so slow to recover to full service is that they lost so much equipment to flooding that could have been avoided (or at least reduced the chance of damage by moving the equipment to higher ground).
A Star-Ledger examination based on interviews, analysis of scores of forecasts and computer models found that on Oct. 28, the Sunday before the storm hit, only one forecast map showed a 10- to 20-percent chance of the Kearny yard flooding on Monday. Most other guidance was far more dire. Additionally, forecasters say NJ Transit never contacted them for help in interpreting the data, and had they, they would have been told Sunday morning the yard had a high to near certain likelihood of taking on water from the storm surge.Everyone was warning of serious flood risks due to the combination of astronomical high tide combined with a record-breaking storm surge that was likely to occur due to Sandy's tremendous size and wind fetch.
"It’s like going to the doctor and deciphering your own MRI," said I. Ross Dickman, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service’s Upton, N.Y. office, which forecasts for Kearny. "To our knowledge, NJ Transit has never called our office for supplementary information, and that’s unfortunate."
It became a costly decision. NJ Transit said it sustained an estimated $100 million in damages to cars and locomotives during the storm, the majority of which were stationed in Kearny.
While other agencies, like New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, spent days moving equipment to higher ground. NJ Transit relied largely on the flawed forecast tool and past experiences. In recent days, Weinstein has testified before the U.S. Senate and in Trenton that NJ Transit needed 12 to 18 hours to shut down its system and move equipment out of harm’s way.
"We now know, under certain circumstances, that that yard can flood," Weinstein told the Assembly Committee Monday. "The dynamics of the storm changed after we shut down our system. Our common sense is now informed by this event, which none of us have seen in our lifetime."
But Dickman said his office, as early as four days prior to Sandy’s landfall, had forecast a potential storm surge of six to 11 feet. Combined with high tide, it’s more than enough to flood the Kearny yard, where the elevation is only 10 feet. He said the threat was made clear in daily webinars NJ Transit employees attended. He also said the tool NJ Transit used, called the Probabilistic Hurricane Storm Surge tool, is one of scores of forecast equipment his office uses to make a forecast and is guidance, not gospel.
NJ Transit has been repeatedly telling anyone who will listen that they operated on the best information, but that's clearly not the case. The agency has been lying to the likes of the US Senate and New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg who let the agency off the hook as well as NJ State Legislators who also were far too lenient in their questioning of NJ Transit officials who bothered to show up for the hearings.
Weinstein says that they now know that Kearny and Hoboken could flood, but the flood forecasts were indicating precisely that ahead of Sandy. No effort was made to move equipment. The excuse was that moving it to higher ground could strand the equipment or expose the equipment to wind-driven storm damage. That's a debatable point to a certain extent, but leaving hundreds of cars in a flood zone exposed all that equipment to damage.
Putting equipment on higher ground would have avoided the serious flood damage. Sure, some equipment could have suffered damage due to downed trees or power lines, but that wouldn't affect entire trains (locomotives plus the normal allotment of cars they pull or push). It would have affected individual cars that could be taken out of service for repairs. Wind damage could also be reduced if NJ Transit did a better job of maintaining its right of way to trim trees that could result in downed lines or damage to equipment.
The agency failed on all accounts, and what's worse is that legislative leaders and Gov. Christie appear willing to let the agency and its top officials avoid taking responsibility for the damage.
The fact that the MTA and Port Authority utilized weather forecasters' expertise throughout the leadup to the storm shows just how off-base the NJ Transit actions were. Both of the other agencies were in close contact with the National Weather Service and other forecasters and both prepared to send equipment to higher ground. The MTA didn't lose equipment to the storm the way NJ Transit did, and were therefore able to resume service far quicker despite serious damage to East River Tunnels and other rail infrastructure.
Saying that NJ Transit will be better prepared going forward isn't sufficient. More must be done to hold NJ Transit officials responsible for their incompetence.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Yet Another Reason Not To Trust NJ Transit
I've long written that NJ Transit could not be trusted to carry out capital projects such as the now-killed ARC Tunnel project and that it couldn't manage its current operating budget or priorities properly.
Now comes word that NJ Transit recklessly disregarded reports from the weather services that it positioned one third of its rail fleet in areas that were expected to flood.
That's no way to run a transit agency and Gov. Christie and the legislature must hold the agency accountable for this huge mess. And as usual, there's a stream of miscommunications, misdirection and general obfuscation by the agency about its current actions and plans on investigations in to how and why those trains were left in flood prone areas at a time when the MTA not only took flood warnings seriously, but didn't lose any buses or trains to flood damage.
And the agency still stands by the claims that it would not affect service.
That's total nonsense.
We've already seen that the lack of equipment and trains has affected service. Trains are far more crowded than usual (those that were running, that is), and service wasn't restored to lines that could have been restored fairly easily - those that required power to service switches and signals (did the agency ever hear of generators for those jobs?).
No, what we've got is a complete exposure of just how inadequate the agency's storm planning was and their inability to get service restored in a timely fashion to those areas that had minimal damage. The fact is that had many of those trains been moved to yards and areas along the Bergen and Main Lines, the train service could have been restored much more quickly. There are raised platforms in Paterson as well as a yard in Waldwick that is well above the flood plain. Trains could have been positioned at intervals in those areas, and been largely protected from water damage.
There's simply no way that the agency can claim that service was not hampered by the fact that 1/3 of the trains were flood damaged. If that's to be believed, then one needs to completely suspend their disbelief.
Now comes word that NJ Transit recklessly disregarded reports from the weather services that it positioned one third of its rail fleet in areas that were expected to flood.
That's no way to run a transit agency and Gov. Christie and the legislature must hold the agency accountable for this huge mess. And as usual, there's a stream of miscommunications, misdirection and general obfuscation by the agency about its current actions and plans on investigations in to how and why those trains were left in flood prone areas at a time when the MTA not only took flood warnings seriously, but didn't lose any buses or trains to flood damage.
- New Jersey Transit's struggle to recover from Superstorm Sandy is being compounded by a pre-storm decision to park much of its equipment in two rail yards that forecasters predicted would flood, a move that resulted in damage to one-third of its locomotives and a quarter of its passenger cars.It's absolutely unconscionable that NJ Transit would leave so much of its equipment in Kearny and Hoboken when it knew or had reason to know that flooding was likely to cause damage to that equipment.
That damage is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars and take many months to repair, a Reuters examination has found.
The Garden State's commuter railway parked critical equipment - including much of its newest and most expensive stock - at its low-lying main rail yard in Kearny just before the hurricane. It did so even though forecasters had released maps showing the wetland-surrounded area likely would be under water when Sandy's expected record storm surge hit. Other equipment was parked at its Hoboken terminal and rail yard, where flooding also was predicted and which has flooded before.
Among the damaged equipment: nine dual-powered locomotive engines and 84 multi-level rail cars purchased over the past six years at a cost of about $385 million.
"If there's a predicted 13-foot or 10-foot storm surge, you don't leave your equipment in a low-lying area," said David Schanoes, a railroad consultant and former deputy chief of field operations for Metro North Railroad, a sister railway serving New York State. "It's just basic railroading. You don't leave your equipment where it can be damaged."
After Reuters made numerous inquiries to state and local officials this week about the decision to store equipment in the yards, an unidentified senior transportation official told the New York Post that NJ Transit had launched an internal probe, the Post reported on Saturday.
NJ Transit Chairman James S. Simpson, the state's transportation commissioner, told Reuters on Saturday he knew of no such investigation. NJ Transit spokesman John Durso said the agency had not launched a probe but would examine its response to the storm, as "is standard procedure following any major incident."
The Post said it stood by its story.
As of Friday, almost three weeks after the storm, the agency was still struggling to restore full service for its 136,000 daily rail commuters, running just 37 trains into New York Penn Station during the morning rush hour, rather than its usual 63. More service will be restored on Monday. The disruptions have caused long delays and crowded trains for Jersey residents who work in the biggest U.S. city.
James Weinstein, NJ Transit's executive director, said he did not expect the loss of equipment to have a significant effect on service in the coming weeks and months.
And the agency still stands by the claims that it would not affect service.
That's total nonsense.
We've already seen that the lack of equipment and trains has affected service. Trains are far more crowded than usual (those that were running, that is), and service wasn't restored to lines that could have been restored fairly easily - those that required power to service switches and signals (did the agency ever hear of generators for those jobs?).
No, what we've got is a complete exposure of just how inadequate the agency's storm planning was and their inability to get service restored in a timely fashion to those areas that had minimal damage. The fact is that had many of those trains been moved to yards and areas along the Bergen and Main Lines, the train service could have been restored much more quickly. There are raised platforms in Paterson as well as a yard in Waldwick that is well above the flood plain. Trains could have been positioned at intervals in those areas, and been largely protected from water damage.
There's simply no way that the agency can claim that service was not hampered by the fact that 1/3 of the trains were flood damaged. If that's to be believed, then one needs to completely suspend their disbelief.
Friday, November 09, 2012
NJ Transit and Port Authority Fail Commuters During Crisis Yet Again
The disaster response by NJ Transit and PATH is beyond deplorable. It's atrocious and defies common sense. The agency seems to think that it's done a good job in providing information to its customers, and yet there is a daily crush of thousands of commuters attempting to get home by way of one of the three rail lines servicing New Jersey other than the Atlantic City Line or the bus service that is wholly inadequate to pick up the slack.
All one has to do is look across the river to the MTA to see how disaster response should be handled.
The MTA faced as bad a crisis as anything that NJ Transit and the Port Authority faced combined. Miles of tracks were submerged and damaged. Seven rail tunnels were flooded as were several key stations. The entire system was impacted.
Yet, within days bus service was up and running and a week later subway service was resuming in the formerly flooded tunnels. This weekend will see still more service added, leaving just a handful of Lower Manhattan stations out of action plus a segment of the A line in the Rockaways that suffered catastrophic damage.
That compares with the PATH service, which is essentially out of action due to flooding of the two tunnels to the World Trade Center and damage to both the WTC and Hoboken terminals. They have a fraction of the track and stations to dewater, and yet they're taking even longer to restore service.
The same goes for NJ Transit and their rail lines.
The buses that NJ Transit are offering are wholly inadequate to the task and the agency can't even admit that they're not up to the task of attempting to provide service to hundreds of thousands of commuters that rely on mass transit on a daily basis.
An average train can move 800-1,000 people.
The average bus? 50? 60 if you pack them in tight? People who normally take rail are somehow supposed to get on a handful of buses that are already full with their ordinary riders. The existing bus schedule hasn't been increased to handle the overflow; people are somehow supposed to take the existing bus service, even though the Port Authority can't handle the crowds at the bus terminal.
There simply aren't enough scheduled buses to handle the loads. Even with emergency shuttle service from designated locations, people simply can't get to where they need to be - namely work.
And that doesn't even begin to describe the mess at the Port Authority. Not only have the crowds been a disaster waiting to happen, but what should normally be a 40 minute commute stretches to 3-4 times as long because buses aren't available, are delayed, or inadequate to deal with the crowds during peak rush hour. Waiting an hour or two can help alleviate the congestion, but people can't do that when they've got family and obligations back home. Some things can't wait until 8-9pm before attempting a commute home. Add to that the fact that phone and Internet service is poor inside the Port Authority and you get little information as to why the delays are occurring beyond the congestion one sees.
That was the case earlier this week when not only were there no buses coming into pick up any passengers for 45 minutes while I was waiting on line, but there was no indication as to why or when service would be restored. On a separate occasion, NJ Transit and Port Authority didn't explain why service was delayed for more than an hour just to exit the Port Authority and it took further digging to find out that the traffic delays from the Lincoln Tunnel were the result of downed lines that blocked access to the George Washington Bridge - backing up traffic for miles on end and forcing detours to avoid the congestion.
The NJ Transit response has been inadequate as to how and why trains aren't running on the Bergen or Pascack Valley lines either. They could claim that the trains couldn't run because of power outages at key locations along the routes, but with power now being restored, NJ Transit should be working with the utilities to get power restored so that key mass transit links get back up and running faster - reducing the need for people to drive to work (exacerbating the fuel crunch around the region).
Besides, NJ Transit has operated trains on the Main/Bergen/Pascack lines during outages in the past. It's slow and tedious, but it can be done. They aren't even attempting that.
It would even be plausible for NJ Transit to contend that they can't run the trains because of damage to their Rail Operations Center, but that should have been resolved as well. After all, if the MTA can dewater 6 of 7 tunnels and get service up and running, NJ Transit could and should be able to do the same.
At the same time, there are further delays due to the fact that Amtrak hasn't been able to get all of its Hudson and East River tunnels functioning. They're running at reduced capacity as well, and they're hopefully going to be able to get back up and running. That would alleviate much of the crunch for both Long Islanders and New Jerseyeans because trains would be able to access Penn Station easier.
Governor Christie must hold the agency accountable and thus far he's not done enough to get the agency moving in the right direction. That compares with the MTA, which has done a yeoman's job of keeping the public informed as well as answering and answerable to Goveror Cuomo. The response has been light night and day, and it has made an already difficult situation intolerable.
Whereas the MTA is transparent on its rebuilding efforts - daily updates including photos and news conferences, the NJ Transit site has done little beyond the initial posting that indicates the damage in general terms and not what the agency has done already to rectify the situation.
All one has to do is look across the river to the MTA to see how disaster response should be handled.
The MTA faced as bad a crisis as anything that NJ Transit and the Port Authority faced combined. Miles of tracks were submerged and damaged. Seven rail tunnels were flooded as were several key stations. The entire system was impacted.
Yet, within days bus service was up and running and a week later subway service was resuming in the formerly flooded tunnels. This weekend will see still more service added, leaving just a handful of Lower Manhattan stations out of action plus a segment of the A line in the Rockaways that suffered catastrophic damage.
That compares with the PATH service, which is essentially out of action due to flooding of the two tunnels to the World Trade Center and damage to both the WTC and Hoboken terminals. They have a fraction of the track and stations to dewater, and yet they're taking even longer to restore service.
The same goes for NJ Transit and their rail lines.
The buses that NJ Transit are offering are wholly inadequate to the task and the agency can't even admit that they're not up to the task of attempting to provide service to hundreds of thousands of commuters that rely on mass transit on a daily basis.
An average train can move 800-1,000 people.
The average bus? 50? 60 if you pack them in tight? People who normally take rail are somehow supposed to get on a handful of buses that are already full with their ordinary riders. The existing bus schedule hasn't been increased to handle the overflow; people are somehow supposed to take the existing bus service, even though the Port Authority can't handle the crowds at the bus terminal.
There simply aren't enough scheduled buses to handle the loads. Even with emergency shuttle service from designated locations, people simply can't get to where they need to be - namely work.
And that doesn't even begin to describe the mess at the Port Authority. Not only have the crowds been a disaster waiting to happen, but what should normally be a 40 minute commute stretches to 3-4 times as long because buses aren't available, are delayed, or inadequate to deal with the crowds during peak rush hour. Waiting an hour or two can help alleviate the congestion, but people can't do that when they've got family and obligations back home. Some things can't wait until 8-9pm before attempting a commute home. Add to that the fact that phone and Internet service is poor inside the Port Authority and you get little information as to why the delays are occurring beyond the congestion one sees.
That was the case earlier this week when not only were there no buses coming into pick up any passengers for 45 minutes while I was waiting on line, but there was no indication as to why or when service would be restored. On a separate occasion, NJ Transit and Port Authority didn't explain why service was delayed for more than an hour just to exit the Port Authority and it took further digging to find out that the traffic delays from the Lincoln Tunnel were the result of downed lines that blocked access to the George Washington Bridge - backing up traffic for miles on end and forcing detours to avoid the congestion.
The NJ Transit response has been inadequate as to how and why trains aren't running on the Bergen or Pascack Valley lines either. They could claim that the trains couldn't run because of power outages at key locations along the routes, but with power now being restored, NJ Transit should be working with the utilities to get power restored so that key mass transit links get back up and running faster - reducing the need for people to drive to work (exacerbating the fuel crunch around the region).
Besides, NJ Transit has operated trains on the Main/Bergen/Pascack lines during outages in the past. It's slow and tedious, but it can be done. They aren't even attempting that.
It would even be plausible for NJ Transit to contend that they can't run the trains because of damage to their Rail Operations Center, but that should have been resolved as well. After all, if the MTA can dewater 6 of 7 tunnels and get service up and running, NJ Transit could and should be able to do the same.
At the same time, there are further delays due to the fact that Amtrak hasn't been able to get all of its Hudson and East River tunnels functioning. They're running at reduced capacity as well, and they're hopefully going to be able to get back up and running. That would alleviate much of the crunch for both Long Islanders and New Jerseyeans because trains would be able to access Penn Station easier.
Governor Christie must hold the agency accountable and thus far he's not done enough to get the agency moving in the right direction. That compares with the MTA, which has done a yeoman's job of keeping the public informed as well as answering and answerable to Goveror Cuomo. The response has been light night and day, and it has made an already difficult situation intolerable.
Whereas the MTA is transparent on its rebuilding efforts - daily updates including photos and news conferences, the NJ Transit site has done little beyond the initial posting that indicates the damage in general terms and not what the agency has done already to rectify the situation.
Monday, November 05, 2012
Making Hash of the Commute
I'm so glad I'm not commuting into NYC this morning.
NJ Transit is an absolute mess. They claimed that they had service restored on a couple of lines, but here's what that meant.
For Main/Port Jervis, it was 7 trains inbound in the morning, and 3 would get to New York City after what's normally considered rush hour (10-11am). No reverse commute trains. In the PM, you'd have the same situation - 7 outbound trains, with staggered times that include times outside rush hour.
Those attempting to do the commute found themselves in a mess - serious overcrowding. The overcrowding was so bad that #NJTransit suspended service on the North Jersey Coast Line service and customers utilizing the Woodbridge station were told to use Metropark station for service to/from Newark and New York.
Meanwhile, bus service isn't much better. Mrs. Lawhawk who had to get to court this morning, had to let three buses pass her by with standing room only before she found one with a seat. That's crazy.
But, once she got into the city, the commute was much smoother. The MTA has done a phenomenal job in restoring service, including to Lower Manhattan and service was being added faster than the MTA cartographers could update their service maps (which are being updated daily). When you think of all the millions of people who rely on the subways, Joe Lhota has done a tremendous job in getting service restored, even though some stations may be out of commission for a while - particularly in the Rockaways and South Ferry. Other lines are being bypassed because of lower ridership and the need to concentrate on the routes that have the ability to restore service to the greatest numbers of people in the shortest time. It means that some areas are still cutoff, including Williamsburg, Coney Island, and parts of Lower Manhattan, but if someone did a time lapse of the service maps, you'd see just how fast the service was restored.
Now, going forward the question will be how to prevent the disruptions we've seen from getting as bad as they were.
For starters - the feds and states ought to consider legislation requiring all gas stations to retrofit with generators (and in flood-prone areas - sufficiently elevated to reduce chances for disruption). That would allow people to refuel, and to power their generators to get power back quicker. It would alleviate traffic considerably and hasten the recovery rather than lose time to waiting in lines for gas.
New York should have implemented even/odd gas fill ups just as New Jersey did for affected counties. It's alleviated some of the lines around Bergen County - but restoring power does that even more.
New York State has to pony up to fund the MTA to get more storm mitigation in place - better drainage/pumping systems/flood gates to prevent the tunnels from getting swamped.
And in New Jersey, they've got to take a critical look at NJ Transit and how they were ill-prepared to deal with the storm and the after-effects. Did they not realize that people would attempt a commute during rush hour and the limited trains they would run would get overcrowded due to conditions.
It's the same problem they had after last year's storms (Irene and Lee). Now, we're going to see just how slow NJ Transit will be in restoring service, though it's not all their fault - PSEG has to restore power so that NJ Transit rail signals/gates can function. But that's another place where backup generators could make a difference.
NJ Transit is an absolute mess. They claimed that they had service restored on a couple of lines, but here's what that meant.
For Main/Port Jervis, it was 7 trains inbound in the morning, and 3 would get to New York City after what's normally considered rush hour (10-11am). No reverse commute trains. In the PM, you'd have the same situation - 7 outbound trains, with staggered times that include times outside rush hour.
Those attempting to do the commute found themselves in a mess - serious overcrowding. The overcrowding was so bad that #NJTransit suspended service on the North Jersey Coast Line service and customers utilizing the Woodbridge station were told to use Metropark station for service to/from Newark and New York.
Meanwhile, bus service isn't much better. Mrs. Lawhawk who had to get to court this morning, had to let three buses pass her by with standing room only before she found one with a seat. That's crazy.
But, once she got into the city, the commute was much smoother. The MTA has done a phenomenal job in restoring service, including to Lower Manhattan and service was being added faster than the MTA cartographers could update their service maps (which are being updated daily). When you think of all the millions of people who rely on the subways, Joe Lhota has done a tremendous job in getting service restored, even though some stations may be out of commission for a while - particularly in the Rockaways and South Ferry. Other lines are being bypassed because of lower ridership and the need to concentrate on the routes that have the ability to restore service to the greatest numbers of people in the shortest time. It means that some areas are still cutoff, including Williamsburg, Coney Island, and parts of Lower Manhattan, but if someone did a time lapse of the service maps, you'd see just how fast the service was restored.
Now, going forward the question will be how to prevent the disruptions we've seen from getting as bad as they were.
For starters - the feds and states ought to consider legislation requiring all gas stations to retrofit with generators (and in flood-prone areas - sufficiently elevated to reduce chances for disruption). That would allow people to refuel, and to power their generators to get power back quicker. It would alleviate traffic considerably and hasten the recovery rather than lose time to waiting in lines for gas.
New York should have implemented even/odd gas fill ups just as New Jersey did for affected counties. It's alleviated some of the lines around Bergen County - but restoring power does that even more.
New York State has to pony up to fund the MTA to get more storm mitigation in place - better drainage/pumping systems/flood gates to prevent the tunnels from getting swamped.
And in New Jersey, they've got to take a critical look at NJ Transit and how they were ill-prepared to deal with the storm and the after-effects. Did they not realize that people would attempt a commute during rush hour and the limited trains they would run would get overcrowded due to conditions.
It's the same problem they had after last year's storms (Irene and Lee). Now, we're going to see just how slow NJ Transit will be in restoring service, though it's not all their fault - PSEG has to restore power so that NJ Transit rail signals/gates can function. But that's another place where backup generators could make a difference.
Friday, November 02, 2012
Photos From the Recovery in Radburn
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| One tree removed, countless others remain to be addressed |
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| PSE&G already installing new poles to restring power lines. Tree crews had come through earlier today to dispose of the trees that took out these lines. |
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| Lots of work remain before power gets restored on this segment. At least two more poles have to be installed before they can begin restringing the power lines and other utilities. |
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| The culprit for part of the Radburn Road outage cut down to size. |
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| The tree leaning against the Radburn Apartments has been cleared. |
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| The trucks are from Indiana. The crews are from Wisconsin. They're here in Radburn clearing away the trees from adjacent to the Radburn post office. |
A Slow Slog To Recovery From Sandy
Relief efforts in Fair Lawn continue. I was out and about and PSE&G is busy in my vicinity. They had tree crews working ahead of them - cutting away trees that had brought down lines on Radburn Rd., and were already in the process of putting up new poles. They had to take a break to get additional poles. Once the poles are up, they'll have to restring the lines followed by running new lines up to the homes where the power was ripped from the poles.
Elsewhere, tree crews are out by the Radburn post office (and we even got mail this morning). But incredibly, cars were ignoring traffic cones about ongoing work and drove through the active work scene - putting everyone at risk. Crazy stuff.
The tree crew I spoke with had trucks from Indiana and came in from Wisconsin. They'll be in the area as long as it takes.
It's a monumental effort.
I've got pictures to post later - some from the same area I took the other day to see the difference.
Also, I saw PSE&G survey crews marking down where additional trees need to be addressed - those leaning on poles/wires/etc. It's heartening to see, even though it's taking too long by half.
Neighbors from on the other side of the park said that they were told a week to 10 days. They have generators running for now. Other folks I met said they were conserving their generators because of the lines for gas.
The quicker power gets restored to gas stations, the sooner the gas mess will ease. The more homes that see power restored, the less people will need to go for gas to fill up their generators.
Oh, and speaking of generators - I saw way too many of them located too close to their homes, even to the point of being in garages or enclosed spaces. Those are CO poisonings in the making.
People wont even realize they're getting poisoned until it is too late.
Elsewhere, tree crews are out by the Radburn post office (and we even got mail this morning). But incredibly, cars were ignoring traffic cones about ongoing work and drove through the active work scene - putting everyone at risk. Crazy stuff.
The tree crew I spoke with had trucks from Indiana and came in from Wisconsin. They'll be in the area as long as it takes.
It's a monumental effort.
I've got pictures to post later - some from the same area I took the other day to see the difference.
Also, I saw PSE&G survey crews marking down where additional trees need to be addressed - those leaning on poles/wires/etc. It's heartening to see, even though it's taking too long by half.
Neighbors from on the other side of the park said that they were told a week to 10 days. They have generators running for now. Other folks I met said they were conserving their generators because of the lines for gas.
The quicker power gets restored to gas stations, the sooner the gas mess will ease. The more homes that see power restored, the less people will need to go for gas to fill up their generators.
Oh, and speaking of generators - I saw way too many of them located too close to their homes, even to the point of being in garages or enclosed spaces. Those are CO poisonings in the making.
People wont even realize they're getting poisoned until it is too late.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Hurricane Sandy Affects Bergen County NJ
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| Mutual support gear from Florida prepositioned at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey |
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| Utility pole augur prepared at Garden State Plaza |
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| Saddle River County Park had multiple trees down, including this huge tree that landed in the duck pond. The park is located in Ridgewood NJ |
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| Trees leaning on utility lines are an all too common occurrence. So, even if people in immediate currently have power, they could lose it at any time if the trees shift in the winds. |
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| Trees down all over Glen Rock and Fair Lawn |
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| Trees down along Radburn Road in Glen Rock adjacent to the Glen Rock High School fields. These majestic trees were probably 50-60 years old and they were all snapped like twigs. |
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| A pine tree leaning against the Radburn apartment building in Fair Lawn |
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| The Fair Lawn Post Office in Radburn is closed due to downed trees hung up in the utility lines at High Street and Abbott. |
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