ABSTRACT
In late October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy tore a destructive path through New Jersey and New York, before devolving into a major winter blizzard for Pennsylvania and many of the Great Lakes states. Sandy’s immense size and record-low pressures, along with its coincident arrival with a cold front from the west, led some to dub it “Frankenstorm,” a name indicating both the immensity and intensity of the weather event. The statistics concerning Sandy’s devastation are sobering – in the US the storm can be blamed for 147 deaths, a power outage that affected eight million people, the release of 10 billion gallons of sewage, and over $50 billion in damages (Blake et al. 2013; Kenward et al. 2013). Sandy swamped, pulled apart, or washed away a significant number of roadways, completely submerged seven subway lines, forced the closure of scores of bridges and tunnels, and cancelled over 19 thousand flights (Mutzabaugh 2013). After the storm passed and cleanup efforts began, both New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie initiated systems of what some have called “odd-even” gas rationing, where the final number of a car’s license plate determines which day the driver can purchase gas. Some baulked at the idea of such regulation, especially since New York City last experienced rationing in 1979, when the Iranian revolution caused widespread fuel shortages. This time around, instead of geopolitical instability instigating oil supply uncertainty, many suggested the cause was global warming and the emergence of more dramatic and severe weather patterns, a different kind of phenomenon also prompted by human activity. Though the gas rationing was largely over by Thanksgiving, it left an impression on the minds of many who experienced the frustration of not being able to rely on privately owned automobiles for transportation. Further, it served as a reminder that climate variation will continue to alter the transportation networks we too often see as impervious to change.
