New York, New Jersey face gas shortage, struggling transit network

New York, NY, United States (4E) – The city of New York and New Jersey are experiencing gas shortage and struggling transit system days after Hurricane Sandy’s devastation.

Motorists that have been roaming for hours Wednesday searching for a gas station that had power and still selling gasoline reportedly encountered long lines and empty gas stations.

Joseph McGinn, a spokesman for Sunoco, told ABC News that the station services have been affected by power outages, damaged roads and interrupted supply.

He added that “we are working diligently to get all of our affected retail locations in New Jersey and New York back to full service as quickly as possible.”

Motorists with gas, who had to travel to New York City, are confronted with a major traffic jam at the Lincoln Tunnel, one of only two entrances to the city from New Jersey that remains open because of Sandy’s destruction.

Thousands of commuters attempted to beat Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s declaration that vehicles must have three people in them after 6 a.m. or be turned away, filling the tunnel with motorists before pre-dawn.

The three-passenger rule has been extended to bridges into Manhattan.

Although bus and train services are running, the limited operation struggled to cope with the hordes of waiting passengers.

It was reported that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a transportation state of emergency and authorized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to waive fares on rails, subways through the end of the week, Thursday and Friday.

New York City buses, which normally serve 2.3 million people per day, were also trying to accommodate many of the 5.5 million daily subway riders two days after the storm.

Cuomo stressed “we are going to need some patience and some tolerance.”

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