Fares on all Harlem Subways, Buses And Rails Waived

Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday night declared a transportation emergency in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

As a way to encourage people to take mass transit, Cuomo ordered that the fares for all subways, commuter rail roads and buses be waived Thursday and Friday.

“The service in many cases is limited, the service in many cases will be crowded,” Cuomo said at a light night press briefing at his New York City office.

Traffic on Wednesday in Manhattan, he said “was very high and the gridlock was dangerous.”

One reason, he said, is people needed to get back to work so they brought their cars into Manhattan, which created “an intolerable and dangerous situation.”

Carpool restrictions are being placed on the city and state bridges coming into Manhattan.

The Midtown, Brooklyn-Battery, and Holland tunnels remain closed due to flooding.

Cuomo did say all roads in the metro area have been cleared of debris caused by the storm.

Starting Thursday morning, the Army Corps of Engineers is bringing in 250 high-speed pumping devices to help clear out the water from the tunnels.

Meanwhile, there will be hourly service on the Long Island Rail Road from Pronoun into Penn Station as well as hourly services into Penn from Port Washington.

MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said the Metro North lines from Mount Kisco to Grand Central Station will be on a regular schedule Thursday as will the New Haven line. The two lines service about half of Metro North’s daily riders, he said.

MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said the Metro North lines from Mount Kisco to Grand Central Station will be on a regular schedule Thursday as will the New Haven line. The two lines service about half of Metro North’s daily riders, he said.

In Brooklyn, Lhota said, three of the seven tubes have been cleared of water, but are still at the inspection and cleanup stage, so no trains will be running.

There will be three locations with limited subway service. One will be at the Barclay Center, where buses will be available to get to midtown Manhattan. Another will be at Metro Tech at he Jay Street Terminal and one in Williamsburg.

As announced earlier, there will be 33 buses shuttling people back and forth to Brooklyn.

There will be limited subway service from Queens, Bronx and northern Manhattan that will terminate at either 42nd Street or 34th Street, Lohta said. The lines can’t go further because of a lack of power in lower Manhattan.