Rockland has some of the worst transit options of any of the NYC suburban counties. Rockland commuters can take a West of Hudson Metro-North train, or the have to drive into Jersey or across the Tappan-Zee or Bear Moutain Bridges to get a Hudson Line M-N train at Peekskill or Tarrytown. I think there’s also a dinky little ferry from Haverstraw over to Ossining’s station, but it’s hours of operation are terrible and it doesn’t hold many people (passengers only, no cars).

Thus, Rockland politicians are stuck in this traditional quandrary where they need to pander heavily to automotive commuters by always opposing Tappan-Zee birdge toll hikes AND scrambling to hold on to what little mass transit services they do have. The car commuters and Rockland centric employers don’t want to pay for services that they don’t think benefit them (a fallacy, true, but still that’s their line of thinking) and the few mass transit commuters are pretty damn vocal.

Politicians aren’t paid to actually fix problems, they’re paid to keep people happy. Thus, they’ll say whatever it takes to keep people happy, and usually do nothing, because doing something is going to back someone angry.