[oberon_1]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree with your comments on American culture but there is train service to Westchester and Rockland Counties. Westchester has the Hudson Valley line of Metro North while lower Rockland is served by NJ Transit. Jay

Thanks Jay,
But how do you commute by train to Rockland from Wetchester?
Rockland is more then a county. It means also commuters from Bergen and Orange. There are not farmlands in Idaho or Wyoming.
Only now (21 century), they plan a new bridge, (that may or may not include a light rail) to begin construction in 2016 with projected completion in 2030!
One trip to eastern Asia or Europe will reveal the difference between our infrastructure and the rest of the world.

[Lowerdeck]

Well, it wouldn't be pretty.

You could take a bus from Danbury at Kennedy Park to Hartford, but that would take a lot longer than driving. Probably more expensive too.

Or, you could go to Danbury's Metro North station, head south to Stamford, reverse direction to New Haven. Then from New Haven take Amtrak to Hartford. But in the time it takes to get from Danbury to Stamford and starting to head to New Haven... you could have been in Hartford already driving.

There is no direct train line east-west inland - which is unfortunate. I'd like to see a line go east-west inland from Danbury (or Brewster) in the west to Putnam or Killingly in the east - through Waterbury, Hartford, Manchester, and Storrs.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by oberon_1

Thanks Jay,
But how do you commute by train to Rockland from Wetchester?
Rockland is more then a county. It means also commuters from Bergen and Orange. There are not farmlands in Idaho or Wyoming.
Only now (21 century), they plan a new bridge, (that may or may not include a light rail) to begin construction in 2016 with projected completion in 2030!
One trip to eastern Asia or Europe will reveal the difference between our infrastructure and the rest of the world.

Keep in mind that most of Europe and Asia's cities are a lot more densely populated than America's. Metro NYC is really the only place that approaches a European/Asian model of density and thus the only one that really even approaches Europe/Asia's levels of transit infrastructure and use. After that the only thing even remotely close are the rest of the big cities in the Northeast Corridor (Boston, Philly, Baltimore/Washington combo) and maybe Chicago or San Fran.

Obviously some of this is that when these cities grew, in Europe/Asia they thought more about public transit and less about the car than in the US and thus the low-density sprawl that is common in the South and West.