njt/mnrrbuff wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:07 pm
It looks like where Torrington is located, which is a little more in the northwestern part of the state but not super close to the NY State Border, people living in Torrington who want to use MNR might head on over to the Harlem Line. Torrington is huge. I could see somebody who lives along the western fringe of Torrington driving to the Harlem Line maybe using Wassaic or another station like Harlem Valley-Wingdale. It looks like the roads that connect Torrington and any of the towns served by the Upper Harlem Line aren't direct. I could even see people who live in Torrington in the western end driving to Southeast given that there's more direct service to GCT. I'm sure that there are people who live in Torrington who get a train in Waterbury or even drive further down Rt. 8 to a station on the New Haven Line. I don't think many people would feel comfortable about leaving a car at the Waterbury Station as that's not the best neighborhood. Waterbury is a rough city.
Torrington is not "huge" - you can drive across town in about 20 minutes. In the time you would waste driving on Route 4 over to Wassaic you can shoot down Route 8 to Waterbury, Naugatuck (where the parking lot is the town cop hangout) or Fairfield Metro via Bridgeport - or Southeast if you're so inclined. Hell, when I lived in Goshen I drove to Danbury a lot... *shrug*
150% extend Danbury to New Milford before you spend a dime extending the Waterbury to Torrington (or Thomaston). All you need to improve Waterbury parking is a constant MTA PD presence - since Waterbury PD can't be bothered to hang out there. Even then you still have to wait until the passing sidings come on line and improve frequency before people think it's a viable alternative to mainline New Haven service.
The fact that you're "shocked" the Torrington-Waterbury express bus runs empty shows that you haven't got a clue about Northwestern Connecticut in the slightest. Very few people are commuting to Waterbury from Torrington, they're all heading over Avon Mountain toward Hartford. For the handful of people who do need to get to Waterbury, Torrington is so devoid of public transportation to begin with that nobody is considering a bus down Route 8 to get to work. Get in your car and you'll be in downtown Waterbury in 25 minutes. There is *RARELY* any traffic on Route 8 north of Waterbury, and if you are so inclined, you can get off 8 and entirely avoid the disaster that is 84 if you need to go elsewhere in the city. Did it for many moons when I worked in Cheshire.