We Need An Interurban Trolley System

There's a very memorable scene in the 1975 historical novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015), in which a character, who I think was a Jewish immigrant, traveled 138 miles from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Springfield, Massachusetts. He reached his destination by transferring to various trolley lines. The novel is set in the early years of the 20th century. I don't know if such a transit system existed back then or was just a product of Doctorow's imagination, but I do know that this system is not available today. And that's too bad, because an interurban trolley system would help reduce bumper-to-bumper traffic and polluting car emissions.

We Should Consider Building An Interurban Trolley System

I recently joined a Facebook group of transportation buffs called "New York's Railroads, Subways & Trolleys, Past & Present" (85,000 members). The site's profile photo of trolleys crossing the Brooklyn Bridge brought to mind E. L. Doctorow's historical novel, Ragtime (Random House, 1975).

There's a scene in which a character travels from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to, I think, Springfield, Massachusetts, by transferring from one trolley line to another. That's one of the most memorable scenes in the book. It would be wonderful if a trolley system like that existed today. Such a system, an interurban one, would help reduce traffic jams and air pollution from automobile emissions.