Shock Culture Reverse

A British friend asked me if New York-area mass transit is as well developed as the trains and subways that serve London. The answer is yes. But there are some differences.

Unlike London, where the Picadilly Line, Metropolitan Line and others extend well into the suburbs -- and serve suburban commuters as well as the urban variety -- New York for the most part has a very clear separation between commuter trains and the subway (Although, to be fair, many subway lines serve New York's two major train stations: Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal).

Another major difference is that New York is much more dependent on commuter buses (Many suburban communities either don't have any train service). And a lot of us drive.

Finally, ticketing for subways and trains is separate -- in London, if you have a long-term pass for Zone 2 and beyond, you can get a discount on any train tickets. In New York, a subway pass -- we call it a MetroCard -- is good only on the subway. Commuter train passes are a separate purchase.

So, how does New York City-area transit work? First, there are the trains (New Yorkers, you can skip this unless you're a glutton for punishment or a commuter transit buff):

-- New Jersey Transit serves large chunks of New Jersey (like, duh). The trains connect commuters with Philadelphia as well as New York. I use the Gladstone branch of the Morris & Essex lines (Morris and Essex are two New Jersey counties). New Jersey Transit also operates commuter buses.

-- The Long Island Rail Road, or LIRR, serves Long Island, and is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

-- Metro-North rail serves New York suburbs north of the city and Connecticut.

-- In addition to New Jersey Transit, various buses head into Manhattan from the outer boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island), Long Island and points north of the city.

-- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates a subway-like train, the PATH system, from New Jersey cities relatively close to New York. (PATH trains, which make a number of stops in lower Manhattan and Midtown, are $1.50, compared with $2 for the subway. One city-dweller trick for saving money -- providing you planned to go no further north than 33rd Street -- is to take the PATH instead of the subway.)

The MTA also runs the city's subway and bus systems.

And that's New York transit, not counting train systems serving Newark and JFK airports!