Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said: “The sooner we reimburse transit systems for the measures taken to minimize the damage and re-establish service, the sooner they can focus on long-term plans to strengthen transit infrastructure and protect against future disasters.”
The money will be used to reimburse the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) for expenses incurred during their efforts to prepare for and recover from the storm. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) received a smaller grant of US$1.19m.
At the height of the storm, more than 40% of the entire country’s transit service was suspended.
The newly announced funds are the first allocations from the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013.