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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) made available $2 billion in relief aid to transit agencies that sustained infrastructure damage by Hurricane Sandy last year.

The funds are available through the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) new Emergency Relief Program that was created under MAP-21 to help protect, repair, reconstruct and replace public transit equipment and facilities that were damaged by the super storm, which struck the Northeast in late October. The funds are the first installment of $10.9 billion appropriated to the FTA through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, which President Barack Obama signed into law last month.

"The $2 billion we're making available now will reimburse transit agencies for extraordinary expenses incurred to protect workers and equipment before and after the hurricane hit, and support urgently needed repairs to seriously damaged transit systems and facilities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and elsewhere," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. in a prepared statement

American Public Transportation Association President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Melaniphy praised the FTA for providing the much-needed funding.
 
"I commend the FTA for beginning so quickly the process of repairing damage done to public transit systems in the New York-New Jersey region during Hurricane Sandy," he said in a prepared statement.