TransCore helps New York survive hurricane devastation

New York’s Traffic Management Centre faced its toughest test yet when Hurricane Sandy hit the United States at the end of October last year. Power was maintained to the building in Long Island City, Queens, throughout, although backup systems were operational and ready to supply critical transportation systems if power had been lost. Support from TransCore staff included making sure the TMC networks and transportation systems were operational, including the TransSuite Traffic Control System (TCS), which had
February 28, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
TransCore staff assisted in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, helping to get over 1400 intersections back online as New York returned to its feet (Pic: David Shankbone)

New York’s Traffic Management Centre faced its toughest test yet when Hurricane Sandy hit the United States at the end of October last year.

Power was maintained to the building in Long Island City, Queens, throughout, although backup systems were operational and ready to supply critical transportation systems if power had been lost.

Support from 139 Transcore staff included making sure the TMC networks and transportation systems were operational, including the TransSuite Traffic Control System (TCS), which had 8,200 intersections online. TCS made it through the storm without failing but by Monday as the eye of the storm had passed, there were intersections off-line due to flooding, loss of power and physical damage in the field.

On the Tuesday morning, the main optical fibre cable connecting the TCS to the city-wide wireless network was cut. However, TransCore determined that TCS was operational with no problem, and the TMC networks were not compromised.

The following day, Wednesday, the fibre was repaired and TransCore assisted by troubleshooting the intersections, working with the electricians and operators for the rest of the week. Intersections that could not be put back on line numbered about 700 in the flooded lower Manhattan area and the same number in flooded areas in Brooklyn and the outer boroughs.

Since NYCDOT’s headquarters were in the flooded area in lower Manhattan, commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, her deputy Lori Ardato and their management group relocated to offices in the TMC building in Queens. They made periodic visits to the TMC, specifically to Bruce Schaller (deputy assistant commissioner in charge of the TMC), requesting reports on the status of the intersections.

Support continued into the beginning of the following week as the TMC continued its recovery efforts and as TransCore staff returned to work. The NYC TransCore office lost internet connection but never lost electricity. Most staff returned once public transportation resumed.
Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Networking & Communication Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Archer air taxis proposed for New York City
    April 18, 2025
    Big Apple joins Bay Area and LA as suggested sites for US air taxi networks
    Read More
  • Keeping people on track is RATP’s raison d’etre
    June 14, 2018
    In Paris, RATP Group’s autonomous Metro Line 1 is carrying 750,000 people a day across the city. Ben Spencer is invited into the control room to take a look at how the system works Paris is visited by millions of tourists each year, keen to see for themselves stunning attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the Seine and all the rest. But while the best-known sites of the City of Light tend to be on the surface, there is a lot going on below those iconic grand boule
    Read More
  • B&C Transit modernises Miami-Dade Metrorail’s control systems
    June 1, 2016
    Jason Gomez and Daniel Mondesir describe how passenger disruption was minimised during a major upgrading of the control room of Miami-Dade’s Metrorail. In 1984 when the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works’ (DTPW) Metrorail system was launched in southern Florida, trains ran 18km along a single line and stopped at 10 stations.
    Read More
  • Emovis goes back to Rhode Island
    August 31, 2022
    Back-office deal with Ritba includes system upgrades and invoice processing capability
    Read More

Highlighted Content