Kate Hinds

In the days following Hurricane Sandy, when New York's regional transit systems were either completely shut down or barely limping along, commuters still found a way to work -- by biking more, embracing ferries, temporary "bus bridges" and HOV lanes, even leveraging social media to find rides or temporary office space.

According to a new report from New York University's Rudin Center, the storm's aftermath brought out a uniquely New York commuting creativity.

"In many U.S. cities, which are limited to cars, buses or other singular transportation modes," the report states, "the disruption caused by Hurricane Sandy would have, at least temporarily, crippled the economy." Not so in New York, where residents "displayed impressive inventiveness to maintain their mobility. Individuals created new routes and combinations of modes to get to work, using a variety of systems."

The report surveyed 315 commuters about modes of transport and commute times. That's a small sample considering the millions of people affected. And asking a commuter to estimate how long they took to get to work can invite exaggeration, the Rudin report is an impressive attempt to quantify the chaos of ad-hoc mobility choices during the storm.

While almost everyone saw their commutes increase, Staten Islanders fared the worst. For residents of that hard-hit borough, commute times in the days following Sandy nearly tripled.

It was no picnic on the roads, either: "Commute times by private car for survey respondents nearly tripled, from an average of 47 minutes pre-Sandy to an average of 115 minutes post-Sandy."

The report also praises New York's MTA for keeping the public updated about service changes, and recommends the agency maintain its adaptable subway map. But other transit providers don't come off as well: "During the Hurricane, the Port Authority [which operates the PATH train system] and NJ Transit provided remarkably limited information throughout and following the storm about their service."

Read the full report here. See an impressive interactive timeline of Sandy's impact on transportation.

Top stories on TN:
Fed Study Warned Transit Agencies of Flooding Potential (link)
Rental Cars Moved to New York Post Sandy — But It’s Not Enough (link)
Virginia to Study Traffic over Potomac River (link)

Boston bus (photo by nathanpachal via flickr)

Transit racial disparity in Boston: black workers face longer commutes to work than whites -- especially when traveling by bus. (Boston Globe)

After years of Bloomberg-era declines, the number of traffic-related fatalities in New York has suddenly spiked. Why? (New York Magazine)

Weekday PATH service to Lower Manhattan along the World Trade Center line resumed today. (New York Daily News)

And the Queens Midtown Tunnel is back to its normal traffic pattern (WNYC), while the Long Island Rail Road is running near normal service on all all of its 11 branches for the first time since Superstorm Sandy hit the region. (MTA)

Cold? What cold? The committed bike commuter laughs at winter -- and preaches the gospel of layering: "I wear a merino wool base layer. I wear ski sweaters, usually. I have a variety of weights, and then either a cycling jersey or a fleece vest or a wool vest. And then I wear a wind-breaking layer on top. And I have tights that I wear, too.” (Washington Post)

After almost a decade of debate -- and one mayoral recall election -- the groundbreaking for Troy's transit center is happening Tuesday. (Detroit Free Press)

Wyoming's DOT is looking for volunteers to report real-time traffic conditions. (KOTA/ABC)

Inside BART's expansion plans: more service, delivered more efficiently. (San Jose Mercury News)

Workers in Osaka, Japan, are almost done assembling the world-record, 57.5-foot diameter drill that will churn beneath downtown Seattle next year, to form the Highway 99 tunnel. (Seattle Times)

Why is there no safety in numbers for London's cyclists? (Guardian)

How IBM is using big data to ease your commute. (Wired)

The Lincoln Tunnel helix is getting a massive rehab -- and not a moment too soon. "There are so many craters, Buzz Aldrin would feel at home on it. The concrete median barrier is crumbling like a chocolate chip cookie." (Star-Ledger)

A post-Sandy survey ranks commuters' misery, and Staten Islanders fared the worst. Moreover: "The MTA performed brilliantly, and NJ Transit is still paying for its mistakes." (Wall Street Journal)

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Top stories on TN:
As Thanksgiving Approaches, Rental Car Companies Shift Fleets to Ease Post-Sandy Shortage (link)
Poll Captures Storm Surge Of Positive Feelings For NY MTA, Gas Rationing (link)
Staten Island To Get A Second Ferry…Briefly (link)

A seismic shaker truck rolls through Indiana State University's campus. (Tony Campbell/Courtesy of Indiana State University)

The executive director of NJ Transit is defending the agency's decision to leave trains in rail yards that ended up under water during Hurricane Sandy. (Star-Ledger)

Why New York City has a "second-tier" bus system: opposition from drivers and local businesses to street redesign.  (Capital NY)

A strike shut down the Port of Oakland on Tuesday. (Oakland Tribune)

Chevron wants to install new pipes at a California refinery, but federal experts say the metal the company has chosen failed at another refinery this year. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Advocates are trying to get traction for a large-scale bike share system in Atlanta. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels inaugurated a new stretch of I-69 by driving 40 mph over the speed limit on his motorcycle. (Indy Star)

Drivers in Republican-leaning states are more likely to die in traffic accidents, according to a new study. (The Hill)

Texas's 85-mph toll road suffered its first fatality. (MySanAntonio)

Oil and gas companies are setting up drill sites on college campuses. (NPR)

A new world sailing speed record has been set: the Vestas Sailrocket team reached more than 60 knots (about 70 miles per hour) at Walvis Bay in Namibia. (New Scientist)

Behold: sculptures made from recycled tires. (Fine Print NYC)

An elk made out of recycled tires (photo courtesy of Yong Ho Ji)

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Map of the temporary ferry terminal in Great Kills Park (image courtesy of NYC DOT)

The dream of a South Shore ferry for Staten Island will soon be a reality -- albeit a fleeting one.

To improve the post-Sandy commute for some of the hardest-hit areas of the southernmost borough, New York City is soliciting bids for temporary ferry service from Great Kills to two separate points in Manhattan. The service -- which will be made possible by FEMA funding -- is expected to be up and running by Monday, November 26th.

The existing Staten Island Ferry operates between the northern tip of the borough -- difficult to get to for residents further afield -- to the Battery in lower Manhattan, which is experiencing its own issues: the South Ferry subway station, seriously damaged during the storm surge, remains closed.

This isn't the first time the idea of a ferry on the southern tip of the island has been raised. According to a story earlier this year in the Staten Island Advance, there was a 1997 plan to operate a fast ferry between Great Kills Harbor and Manhattan, but it  "was thwarted by community opposition."

A press release from the city says the service will operate for eight weeks and will include "six trips leaving a newly-constructed landing at Great Kills between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM, bound for Pier 11 at Wall Street and continuing on to 35^th Street, and six return departures in the afternoon, between 12:00 Noon to 6:15 PM. The one-way fare will be $2.00, comparable to fares for temporary ferry routes established in the Rockaways."

Top stories on TN:
DC Airports Executives Grilled on Capitol Hill (link)
Still Unclear Why NJ Transit Took Longer to Bounce Back After Sandy (link)
The H Train Rides Again in the Rockaways (link)

Engineers are testing an inflatable plug to prevent flooding in transit tunnels. (New York Times)

California’s effort to build a high-speed rail is picking up political momentum, but even supporters wonder whether it can stay on track to meet its goal by 2029. (Stateline)

Nearly one in three motorists who use a new Maryland highway without an E-ZPass don’t pay the toll later, making the controversial ICC home to a toll violation rate four times higher than the state average. (Washington Post)

London may abolish the "greener vehicle discount" -- meaning more eco-friendly cars could have to pay congestion pricing in the future. (BBC)

Owners of plug-in electric cars are well-off, well-educated people who want to wean themselves and the nation off high-price oil, according to a pair of new reports. (USA Today via Detroit Free Press)

Why Mayor Corey Booker tweets so much: "Same reason I walk Nwk streets regularly - to connect, better do my job." (@CoryBooker)

Can't get enough of the H train? Neither can Rachel Maddow, who named it "the best new thing in the world today" on her show Monday. (Video below)

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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(For the full NYC subway map, go here.)

The H train is rolling where the A train can't.

Starting Tuesday, residents of the storm-battered Rockaway Peninsula will get a free subway shuttle known as the H train. To connect Beach 67 Street to Beach 90, the train will incorporate a piece of rarely-used track known as the Hammels Wye.

Currently, A train service to Queens terminates at Howard Beach. According to a press release issued by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the tracks over Jamaica Bay were "almost completely destroyed by the storm." Residents have been using shuttle buses to connect to mainland Queens as well as navigate the peninsula.

There are no estimates yet as to when full A train service will be back up and running.

(Note: according to the MTA, the appellation "H" is unrelated to Hammels. Shuttle service began on the Rockaways in 1956; by 1962, it was called the "HH." )

To get subway service out to the Rockaways, the MTA loaded subway cars onto flatbed trucks in Ozone Park, Queens, drove them over the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, and lifted them back on the rails at the Rockaway Park-Beach 116 station. That work can be seen in the below video.

The H still exists on the rolls of the MTA -- as captured in the 2008 photo below.

An H train, spotted in 2008 (photo by SaikoSakura via flickr)

DOT Inspector General Calvin Scovel (L) and MWAA vice chairman Tom Davis (photo by Martin DiCaro)

Top officials at the agency in charge of the $6 billion Silver Line testified before a U.S. House oversight committee on Friday after an audit exposed its unethical hiring, travel, and contracting practices.

Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee grilled MWAA Board Chairman Michael Curto and CEO Jack Potter about personal roles and agency policies in the granting of no-bid contracts and the rampant nepotism detailed in the audit.  The chair of the house committee, John Mica, called the agency a "poster child for corrupt practices." While acknowledging the agency's missteps, both men pointed to recent measures designed to overhaul MWAA's ethics, travel, and contracting practices.

An audit released earlier this month by the Department of Transportation's Inspector General took the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for "ambiguous policies and ineffectual controls." In addition to overseeing the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, the MWAA also manages Dulles and Reagan National Airports.

Curto and Potter also said many of the transgressions outlined in the audit took place before they assumed their current positions.

There were, however, cases that directly involved them: the law firm that employed Curto's wife was granted a $100,000 no-bid contract to provide legal counsel.  Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards (D-4th) asked Curto to explain how such a large contract could be awarded without the approval of the board of directors.

"I was not chairman at the time. I was not on the legal committee at the time. The general counsel for the authority made the decision to retain the law firm. My wife at the time was an employee at that law firm... she had no direct or indirect financial interest in the law firm," said Curto, who said in retrospect the contract should not have been granted on a no-bid basis. "Although it wasn't an actual conflict of interest it certainly was an appearance of a conflict of interest," he said.

Potter was questioned about the hiring of former MWAA board member Mame Reiley to a job created for specifically for her at an annual salary of $180,000 without proper vetting or board approval.

"My judgement was not good in terms of the hiring of that person," said Potter, who said the creation of the job was necessary to meet the challenges created by rising costs at Dulles International.  Rep. Edwards asked the officials if they should remain in their positions given the agency's record.

"I would hope so," Curto said, pointing to the measures MWAA has approved to revamp its ethics, travel, and contracting policies as well as terminate contracts granted to former or current board members.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified that MWAA has indeed revamped its policies, adding that its leaders understand reforms must be successful if the agency is going to receive additional federal funding to pay for the Silver Line, whose first phase of construction is scheduled for completion late next year.

"Phase I has worked pretty well. It really has. I think Phase II will work equally well because when you talk to these folks now in charge of MWAA, a new CEO and president, a relatively new chairman, they get it," said LaHood.  "These people get it.  They do. They know this has to be done correctly."

"They have pending before us a TIFIA loan. We're not going to give them a TIFIA loan if they are not doing things correctly.  They know that," added LaHood, referring to the federal loan program for major transportation projects.

In August, LaHood sent the MWAA a blistering letter questioning the board’s ethics and laying out steps the authority must take to get in line.

Phase II construction of the Silver Line is supposed to begin next year.

Watch a video of Friday's hearing here.

Top stories on TN:
Kansas City Citizens Fund Civic Project with Donations (link)

Mural in the 86th Street #1 subway station (photo by Kate Hinds)

The first toll in the history of Los Angeles County is unsettling drivers used to free "freeways." (New York Times)

If Ray LaHood steps down, who will replace him as Transportation Secretary? A look at possible candidates, from the serious to the wild card. (Governing)

Bike share is coming to San Diego next year -- and Miami-based DecoBike got the contract. (KPBS)

New York City has extended gas rationing through Friday. (AP via WNYC)

How the Bay Bridge's 'self-anchoring' design works. "Aligning the holes and strands was like playing "Whac-A-Mole," Bay Bridge project manager and engineer Ken Terpstra said. "Just when you got one lined up, another one would go out of place."  (Mercury News)

After the storm: NJ Transit officials are looking at ways to work with Amtrak to protect electrical substations, such as the one in Kearny on the Northeast Corridor line, from being flooded. (Asbury Park Press)

To close the transportation budget shortfall in Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick will likely call for raising the gas tax. Also on the table: taxing miles driven, tapping future casino revenue, and transferring MBTA debt to the state’s books. (Boston Globe)

A speeding train crashed into a bus carrying Egyptian children to their kindergarten and killed 51. (AP)

New York State officials still insist they will share details of the designs being considered for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement. But it’s unclear exactly what the public will get to see — and when. (Journal News)

Tesla made driving electric cars cool -- but will non-car geeks buy them? (NPR)

Fish out of water: Hurricane Sandy stranded thousands of carp  -- some alongside NJ Transit train tracks. (WNYC)

After seeing how the MTA handled Hurricane Sandy, are New Yorkers more accepting of a transit fare hike? (New York Daily News)

A Brooklyn matchmaker (yes, the NY Post calls her the "love conductor") trolls the subway for potential clients. (New York Post)

Hunting the wild...two-wheeler. Say hello to bicycle taxidermy. (Grist)

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Top stories on TN:
MWAA Votes to Raise Fees on Dulles Toll Road (link)
Slide Show: Bacon, $2 Cash, The New Normal Getting from Rockaways (link)
VIDEO: Drying Out the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (link)

A rendering of a California bullet train (image courtesy of the California High-Speed Rail Authority)

Nissan's CEO finally admitted the automaker will not meet its sales target for its all-electric Leaf. (Detroit News)

California's High-Speed Rail Authority is adding 12 months to the construction schedule for 130 miles of track in the Central Valley. (Los Angeles Times)

A freight train slammed into a Texas parade float, killing four people and injuring 17 others. (AP via Dallas Morning News)

Some people in storm-slammed neighborhoods in New York and New Jersey say gas is being stolen from their vehicles. (Marketplace)

“Now is the time for Indianapolis to invest in a first-class transit system,” says the city's mayor, who wants $1.3 billion in funding. (Indy Star)

Gondolas over Austin: should the city look to the skies for mass transit? One planner says yes. (FastCoDesign)

D.C.'s Metrorail has sold 1,500 commemorative fare cards this week for President Obama's second inauguration. (The Hill)

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Top stories on TN:
VIDEO: Drying Out the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (link)
It’s Toll Roads vs. Surface Streets in Race to the Orlando Airport (link)

The logo for the RailRiders, the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees. Yes, that's a porcupine riding the rails.

Freakonomics takes on the environmental consequences of transit: "In terms of energy efficiency, mass transit is not the panacea that a lot of people would like to think." (Marketplace)

Ridership on LA's Metro is up by 19% over last year's numbers. (The Source)

Some local Republican leaders want NY MTA head Joe Lhota to run for NYC mayor. (New York Daily News)

Drivers in the San Francisco Bay area have become the first motorists in the nation to fill up their gas tanks with an algae-based biofuel. (Detroit Free Press)

Minneapolis's planned Southwest Corridor light rail line has some locals concerned about rerouting freight traffic. (MPR)

Some NYC bike share equipment was damaged by Hurricane Sandy. (New York Times)

After months of controversy, bus operator Greyhound is likely to get permission to stop in Chinatown. (DNA Info)

The National Transportation Safety Board wants to make collision avoidance technologies standard equipment in vehicles. (New York Times)

Squish! Photos of compressed commuters riding Tokyo's subway system. (Slate)

The top minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees has renamed itself the RailRiders, in a nod to Scranton's history as the birthplace of the electric streetcar. (Times Leader, MiLB)

Experience the RailRiders launch party video below.

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One tube of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (now known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) is now open to traffic, and New York's MTA has released a video of the recovery process.

Hurricane Sandy flooded the tunnel with millions of gallons of sea water "from floor to ceiling," according to New York Governor Cuomo. (Exactly how much water isn't clear. Earlier reports said the tunnel had taken on 43 million gallons; in the above video, the tunnel's manager, Marc Mende, says the tunnel was flooded with 80 million gallons. Whatever the amount, you can see footage of water in the tunnel at about 38 seconds in -- and it's daunting.)

That was a new experience for the MTA's tunnel employees. "We've never had a leak," said Mende. "We never had a puddle. The only water we ever had in this tunnel came off of vehicles."

The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel remained completely closed to traffic for over two weeks while workers pumped out the water and repaired electrical, lighting, communications, surveillance, and ventilation systems. Cuomo says it will another "few weeks" before the second tube is open.

Here's the scene, after Sandy:

Top stories on TN:
Crucial East River Tunnel In NYC Now Half-Open (link)
D.C. Beltway Opens HOT Lanes to Breeze Past Traffic for a Price, but Strapped Gov’t Won’t Get Revenue (link)
Proposed Montana Coal Railroad Under Scrutiny (link)

Amtrak Acela Express High-Speed Train set on existing Northeast corridor tracks in Bristol, Penn. (photo by Gary Pancavage, Amtrak)

After being denied a federal grant, Kansas City, MO intends to raise the money for a new streetcar system by asking for donations. (Marketplace)

The Port Authority says Hurricane Sandy damaged 16,000 cars in the Port of New York and New Jersey that were heading to vehicle sales lots around the region. (AP via Wall Street Journal)

Amtrak's next big challenge: surviving two more years of a Republican-controlled House. (Politico)

Opinion: to get high-speed rail back on track, Obama needs to reform the Department of Transportation. (Bloomberg)

Toyota is recalling 2.77 million vehicles around the world for a water pump problem and a steering shaft defect that may result in faulty steering. (AP)

Nairobi's new commuter rail line is limited to one suburb with one station. (AFP)

New York City received a $28 million federal grant to bring select bus service along the B44 line in Brooklyn. (New York Post)

The board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is expected to vote Wednesday to raise fees on the Dulles Toll Road. (Washington Post)

Motorists who park or stop illegally on roads outside schools in one British neighborhood could face an instant fine under a new crackdown to improve safety. "Anyone seen committing an offence, no matter how briefly, will have their vehicle photographed and a £70 fine will be sent to them through the post." (BBC)

DC's Metro is now accepting orders for SmartTrip fare cards commemorating President Obama's second inauguration. (The Hill)

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Top stories on TN:
Sea Walls, Wetlands, and Porous Streets: Designing a Storm-Proof New York City (link)
Top Transpo Congressman, John Mica, Mulls Next Move (link)
How NY’s MTA Restored Service…to the Subway Map (link)

Photo by Jordan Matter

The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net oil exporter by 2030, according to an International Energy Agency report. (New York Times) And:

• The number of passenger vehicles on the world's roads will more than double to 1.7 billion over the next 23 years. (Detroit News)
• By about 2025, China will surpass both the United States and the European Union for most cars on the roads, meaning that country will become "a critical source of global oil demand." (Detroit News)
• And India -- which had 14 million passenger cars on the roads in 2011 — will jump to around 160 million cars by 2035. (Detroit News)

New Jersey's gas rationing system, put in place after the damage from Hurricane Sandy, ended this morning. (The Political State/Record)

The NY MTA won't issue refunds to riders who purchased unlimited fare cards before Hurricane Sandy. (New York Times)

The U.S.'s pilot shortage is forcing both industry and government officials to find new, long-term ways to increase the flow of would-be pilots. (Wall Street Journal)

How California's carbon trade market works: an explainer, complete with Monopoly money and poker chips. (KQED)

The European Union is halting rules that would force airlines, including U.S. carriers, to pay for their carbon emissions. (The Hill)

California's bullet train will have to conquer some engineering challenges: "The plan calls for bullet trains to shoot east from Bakersfield at 220 mph, climbing one of the steepest sustained high-speed rail inclines in the world." Not to mention crossing half a dozen earthquake faults heading into L.A. (Los Angeles Times)

More U.S. women have driver’s licenses than men. (AP via Washington Post)

Some NYC-bound commuters walked through the Lincoln Tunnel Monday after a bus accident caused major delays. (DNA Info)

Phoenix is cracking down on fare evaders on its light rail system. (Arizona Republic)

Since the beginning of the year, 25,000 people in Dubai have received tickets for jaywalking. (Gulf News)

Chrysler is trying to make a comeback in Midwest cities its dealerships abandoned years ago. (Automotive News)

A team of university students in Sydney have cracked the secret algorithm used on Sydney's public transport tickets for buses, trains and ferries, which they say could allow them to print their own tickets. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Even the New York Post is praising the MTA and the TWU for swift return of subway service after the storm.

The list of banned vanity license plates in Kansas contains some you'd expect, and some you probably wouldn't -- like SQUISH, TETANUS, and WEIRDO. (Jalopnik)

Dancers Among Us: a photographer staged photos of dancers in action in public places -- many of them subways, roads, and rails. (Laughing Squid)

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Storm damage in Sea Gate, Brooklyn (photo courtesy of NYC Mayor's Office Photo/ Edward Reed)

Would a $20 billion sea wall, stretching from Sandy Hook to the Rockaways, have prevented damage done to New York by Hurricane Sandy's storm surge?

Engineer Fletcher Griffis, speaking on Monday's Brian Lehrer Show, says yes -- "but gosh knows what it will do to the ecology in New York Bay."

Other ideas kicked around during the interview: porous roadways that could reduce flooding,  increased wetlands, and "soft" solutions like zoning changes and ending subsidies for flood insurance.

Listen to the interview below. And check out a data visualization from the U.S. Census Bureau about population growth near the coastline.

Top stories on TN:
Top Transpo Congressman, John Mica, Mulls Next Move (link)
Another Transpo Impact of Sandy: Higher Used Car Prices (link)

MTA employees loading subway cars onto flatbed trucks for transportation to the Rockaway Peninsula. (Photo courtesy of NY MTA/Patrick Cashin)

New York is requesting a total of $30 billion from the federal government in disaster relief aid -- and it wants $3.5 billion of that amount to repair the region’s bridges, tunnels and subway and commuter rail lines. (New York Times)

The storm-hit Queens neighborhood of Far Rockaway now has more commuting options, including new shuttle bus service and a ferry to Midtown. (WNYC)

And: more NJ Transit and PATH service starts rolling today. (Star-Ledger)  The Long Island Rail Road is operating a 'near-normal' schedule on all of its lines except one. (Newsday)

On today's Brian Lehrer Show: design and engineering ideas to help mitigate storm surge damage. (WNYC)

New York Times editorial: when it comes time for state officials to consider how to finance the MTA, remember its post-storm performance.

Boston rail commuters: the T’s mobile-ticketing app has finally hit the tracks. (BostInno)

Some DMV voter registrations are falling through the cracks in California. (Bay-Citizen)

L.A. County Metro has begun a one-year experiment that ends a 70-year tradition of "free" freeway travel in the county. (KPCC)

Montgomery County (Maryland) planners have proposed converting some lanes on the county’s busiest roads to buses-only. (Washington Post)

Among the difficult decisions facing President Obama: whether to give the go ahead for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. (NPR)

Opinion: don't just rebuild NYC post-Sandy, rethink it. (New York Times)

Photo tour: New York City's subway, the early years. (New York Daily News)

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Top stories on TN:
How NY’s MTA Restored Service…to the Subway Map (link)
Flooded Out Staten Islander Preps for Second Blow From Nor’easter (link)
WATCH: The New York City Subway Comeback, in GIF (link)
Was It Worth It? Maryland Says New Highway Meets Expectations; Critics Aren’t So Sure (link)

Waiting for gas in Gowanus, Brooklyn (photo by Jennifer Hsu)

With only 25% of gas stations open, New York City and Long Island will begin rationing. (New York Daily News)

MTA head Joe Lhota on the floods caused by Hurricane Sandy: "My worst-case scenario was exceeded in three minutes." (Bloomberg Businessweek)

But: the swift restoration of service "borders on the edge of magic," said one subway watcher. (New York Times)

And what did city officials eat during the Hurricane Sandy recovery? If you're the head of the MTA, you have the usual. "Even in the middle of the storm, I had what I always have—an omelet with two sausage patties. It’s what I eat every morning." (New York Observer)

Hurricane Sandy is expected to tack $200 to $300 onto the price of a used car -- even as far away as California. "Many vehicles are going to be destroyed," said one analyst, "meaning that many consumers are going to have to replace their cars." (Marketplace)

The massive numbers of aging drivers in the U.S. could reshape how we think about transportation. (AP)

The next U.S. Transportation Secretary -- whether it’s Ray LaHood or someone else -- will confront a highway system starved for cash and financed by a gasoline tax almost no one wants to raise. (Bloomberg)

Congressman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has formally announced his intention to seek the chairmanship of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. (The Hill)

The executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association is suing Tesla for opening a store in a local mall. (NPR)

Sales of electric vehicles won’t take off until automakers lower prices and demonstrate the economic benefits to consumers, says one study. (Los Angeles Times)

Facebook is giving cash to towns inconvenienced by traffic from its employees -- and the towns are in no hurry to spend. (Bay Citizen)

A former oil company executive is the next Archbishop of Canterbury. (CNN)

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The MTA's Chuck Gordanier, holding up the Hurricane Sandy Recovery Service subway map (photo by Kate Hinds)

If you looked at the MTA’s website in the days following Hurricane Sandy, you probably saw a subway map (pdf) that wasn’t what most straphangers were used to.

To protect New York City’s subway system, all transit shut down in advance of the storm. But then the under-river subway tunnels flooded, and the MTA had to convey to riders what was and wasn’t running.

That’s Chuck Gordanier's job, and he began booting up his Mac before the storm even ended.

He’s a manager at the transit agency. His task was -- and is -- to quickly translate the continuous service changes into a stripped-down map. So he began subtracting subway lines and stations. At first he thought the result was almost too harsh.

"But then once I saw this I thought ‘hey, that kind of fits the mood, doesn’t it?’" he said. "So I just kept stripping it down, taking everything off. The ferries weren’t going, why should they be there? The parks were closed, remember? So why should the parks be there? So I just took out everything that wasn’t actually happening and ended up with this."

The map, shown on screen in Adobe Illustrator. (Photo by Kate Hinds)

'This' is the subway recovery map, and it’s a stark contrast to the normal one. No perks, like neighborhood names, landmarks, or even the street grid. Just colored lines on a gray and white background showing what’s operational, and shaded out lines showing what isn’t. Gordanier’s been working 14-hour days to keep the map current. As in: power’s been restored to lower Manhattan? Color in the 1 train. The Joralemon Tunnel’s been pumped dry? Color in the four and five. Lather, rinse, repeat.

A list of the dozens of changes Gordanier made to the subway map since Hurricane Sandy. (Photo by Kate Hinds)

"When I had it done," he said, "and it was right, then we’d put it on the website right away and we’d roll out a quickie print version to post." Gordanier says it’s a matter of turning on and off some of the 50-plus layers that make up the map. He demonstrates how to power up the G line. "First I've got to find the G train layer," he said, clicking the mouse to unlock it. "There’s the G train--see that, 30 percent? Boing. There it is. Full strength."

(He got to do that for real Wednesday, when it began running again.)

Gordanier says he’ll keep updating the MTA’s subway recovery service map until things get back to normal. Until then, it’s a work in progress.

"Today, later," he said, "it will probably be different."

Example: two hours before this story aired on WNYC, the MTA restored full service on the L line.

Watch the return of subway service below.
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WNYC's Data News team has turned the city's post-Sandy recovery into a time-lapse GIF. Click through for the full image.

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Nor'easter snow in NYC, 11/7/12 (photo by Kate Hinds)

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Hurricane Sandy flooded all eight under-river subway tunnels in New York (nine if you count the G train, which runs under the Newtown Creek). The last one to have been pumped dry is the L train's 14th Street tunnel, which runs under the East River between Manhattan and Queens and cuts through the population-accreting neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick, Brooklyn.

The MTA has said restoring L service is its highest priority. On Wednesday, it released a video of workers repairing tracks and signals. Watch it below.

Earlier this week, MTA chairman Joe Lhota described for WNYC the process of restoring service on flooded lines. Workers, he said, are “cleaning [signals] by hand, literally. First you had to pump out the water, then you had to wipe down the mud that was left down there, then you had to literally wipe down the rail, and then fix each and every one of the switches by cleaning them and making sure there was no salt to prevent the electric conductivity.”

You can listen to that interview here.

The L train tunnel on the afternoon of Monday, November 5. (Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin)