ALBANY (AP) -- An even-odd gas rationing system is being put in place in New York City and Long Island because of fuel shortages and distribution delays that led to gasoline hoarding. It will begin Friday at 5 a.m. on Long Island and at 6 a.m. in New York City.
The temporary plan means that gasoline will be available to drivers with license plate numbers ending in an odd number or a letter beginning tomorrow, Nov. 9. Drivers with plate numbers ending in an even number or zero can get gas starting Saturday, Nov. 10.
Police will be at gas stations to enforce the new system.
"This is designed to let everyone have a fair chance that we can get through the lines," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Commercial vehicles, taxis and limousine fleets or emergency vehicles are exempt. People carrying portable gas cans are also exempt. Vanity plates that don't have numbers are considered odd-numbered plates. Out-of-state drivers are also subject to the system.
Bloomberg said the system has worked well in New Jersey where lines went from a two-hour wait to 45 minutes.
"The gasoline shortages ... remain a real problem for drivers in our region," Bloomberg said, adding that only a quarter of New York City stations are open. "We have to do something. This is practical and enforceable and a lot better than doing nothing."
The mayor said he expects shortages to continue for possibly another couple of weeks.
"This temporary fuel policy will ease the challenges residents of the bi-county region are experiencing in the aftermath of the storm," Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said. "Our citizens travel between Nassau and Suffolk without regard to county borders and it only makes sense that we adopt a regional solution."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo had been meeting with the mayor and Suffolk and Nassau counties executives to coordinate several new responses to the continue recovery from Superstorm Sandy that hit Oct. 29.
"It's important that we stay coordinated because we don't want one county's plan impacting on another county," Cuomo said earlier Thursday. "I'm not going to allow any one of them to do something that compromises a neighborhood because we're all neighbors."
Gas distribution among motorists continued to be a problem Thursday, partly because of hoarding. Also, power outages on Long Island partly from Thursday's nor'easter left some gas stations with gasoline in their tanks, but no power to activate pumps.
"The system is coming together slowly," Cuomo said at a press conference, adding that he understands the panic for gas, evidenced by the long lines in New York City.
Rockland, Orange and Westchester counties decided not to adopt the system at this time.
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