It's almost impossible to overstate how unusual Metro North's policy of allowing leashed well-behaved dogs outside a carrier on their trains really is--for the United States. Boston allows dogs on its subway trains. Seattle and San Francisco also allow leashed dogs on their light rail systems. And that's it.
We were just in Germany (without our dog--our friend Jerry, a very experienced dog-minder, stayed at our apartment with him with his own dog, for two weeks--he didn't accept nearly enough money for it either--you want quality friends, get a dog).
Not only are you allowed to just bring your dog on nearly any train, on a leash, with nobody saying a word about it--you go to one of their touchscreen ticket machines, and you see an onscreen button that says 'dog'. You buy a ticket for your dog, and on you go.
Think about all the extra revenue our rail systems miss out on by not going this way. Even Metro North doesn't charge you an extra penny for your pets. Which is nice, but I'd so much rather pay--say a child's fare--and have that practice extended to Amtrak, the MTA, etc.
The whole point of having a dog is to go places with him or her. Otherwise, get a cat. The whole point of having mass transit is to be able to go places without a car. We want to visit a friend of ours in Denver next year. She loves our dog, and we want to bring him, and he'll want to go with us (even rrdude admits that).
So to make this happen, I have to rent a car, burn gasoline, wear us down to a frazzle plotting routes, find dog-friendly motels, deal with the stress of driving for endless hours, put one more car on the nation's overcrowded highways, and then repeat the whole process to go home again. I'd much prefer the train. And my dog behaves perfectly, in trains and cars. He's perfectly house-trained, and will not relieve himself if there's a roof over his head. And people love meeting him, wherever we go.
It's just mindbogglingly stupid. If this was any kind of serious logistical problem, how come Europe, with a vastly superior rail system to ours, encourages people to buy tickets for their dogs and bring them along? German trains run on a schedule so tightly balanced that the slightest delay can lead to problems (that's why their trains nearly always run on time)--you think they'd screw that up to appease dog owners? They allow it because it works. And having been to Germany, I can say with absolute certainty that the dogs there are no friendlier or better-behaved than here--actually, a bit less friendly, on average. The people too, but that's a German thing--we didn't take it personally.
So kudos to Metro North, which has had this policy for decades now, with nary a problem. If only the rest of the nation would pay attention. Dogs on mass transit works--in Canada, in Europe, in Australia, and everywhere it's been tried in the U.S.