New Jersey ends gasoline rationing program

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TRENTON, N.J., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ended the state's gasoline rationing program instituted after the region was hit by Hurricane Sandy.

A rationing system, by which motorists were eligible to buy fuel based on license-plate numbers, ended at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Christie imposed the rationing system Nov. 3 in response to a fuel crisis brought on by Hurricane Sandy, a late October storm that left more than 100 people dead.

Christie said that the fuel rationing system was successful in "creating order and easing customer lines at our gas stations and helping reduce additional anxiety of New Jerseyans through a difficult period."

A similar rationing system imposed for New York City remains in place, a statement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's read.

More than two weeks after Sandy struck the East Coast, thousands of residents are struggling with power outages, complicated by a nor'easter that followed Sandy onshore.

At the peak, roughly 8.5 million customers were without power because of Hurricane Sandy and 150,000 lost electricity because of the nor'easter.