??? They NEED to drive in from NJ CT etc instead of taking public transit?
- Taking public transport only: 30 minutes of walking to the nearest bus stop (bus only on the hour btw). 20 minutes on the bus. 2 hrs 30 minutes on a train to Grand Central. All assuming bus and train time line up (they won't since the bus is hourly).
- Driving and taking a train: Drive for 30 minutes and take a 2 and a half hour train ride to Grand Central.
- Drive: 2 h 20 min at 5 o'clock on a Friday. Google maps shows 1.5 - 2hrs is average.
The optimal path is to drive to a train station close to NYC that has frequent service, park and take the train for the last bit. I used to use the Greenwich train station and it worked well. The same is true from New Jersey, you can park at Metropark or get dropped off in Seacaucus.
Source: I lived in CT for 3 years, lived in Manhattan for the last 5 years, bought a car and keep it in Manhattan for the last 6 months.
They aren't near enough to any train stations to make the trip faster by switching stations. Your "brilliant" drive to a closer train station idea is still a 2 and a half hour total trip time for reaching the same place.
And if your commute daily you're not going to be guessing where you park, you'll probably have a monthly garage.
This all goes back to the parent comment which was just being obtuse. In theory no one "needs" to do anything, we can just sit around all day until we waste away.
People who "need" to commute in their cars really want to commute in their cars. No one is saying it's cheap, but it's a right that people have, and it's not hard to imagine that for some people commuting from NYC to CT daily, doing it by car is preferable to public transit.