Editing Albany County, New York (section)

==Transportation==
Albany County has long been at the forefront of transportation technology from the days of turnpikes and plank roads to the [[Erie Canal]], from the first passenger railroad in the state to the oldest municipal [[airport]] in the United States. Today, [[Interstates]], [[Amtrak]], and the [[Albany International Airport]] continue to make the Albany County a major crossroads of the [[Northeastern United States]].

The [[Capital District Transportation Committee]] (CDTC) is the [[Metropolitan Planning Organization]] (MPO) for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Every metropolitan area in the United States with a population of over 50,000 must have a MPO in order to get any federal transportation funding. The [[US Department of Transportation]] (USDOT) uses an MPO to make decisions on what projects are most important to a metro area for immediate versus long term funding. The USDOT will not approve federal funds for transportation projects unless they are on an MPO's list.<ref name=CDTC>{{cite web | title = Capital District Transportation Committee | publisher = Capital District Transportation Committee | access-date = April 23, 2009 | url = http://www.cdtcmpo.org/whatcdtc.htm}}</ref>

===Interstate and other major highways===
Albany County is situated at a major crossroads of the [[Northeastern United States]], first formed by the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. Even before the [[Interstate Highway System]] and the [[U.S. Highway]] system, Albany County was the hub of many [[Toll road|turnpikes]] and [[plank road]]s that connected the region, as well as the Erie Canal reaching the Great Lakes.

Today, [[Interstate 87 (New York)|Interstate 87]] and [[Interstate 90]] meet in Albany County. The [[Thomas E. Dewey Thruway|Thomas E. Dewey New York State Thruway]] is a [[toll-road]] that from Exit 24 in the city of Albany is I-87 and travels south to connect the county with [[downstate New York]]. West from Exit 24, the Thruway is I-90 and connects the county with [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]], [[Utica, New York|Utica]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]].

North of Exit 24, I-87 is the [[Adirondack Northway]] and connects the city and county of Albany with their suburbs in [[Saratoga County, New York|Saratoga County]] and provides long-distance travel to [[Montreal]]. East of Exit 24, I-90 travels along the northern boundary of the city of Albany and exits the county on the [[Patroon Island Bridge]] into [[Rensselaer County, New York|Rensselaer County]] to access Albany's eastern suburbs. [[Interstate 787]] connects the Thruway (I-87) to [[Downtown Albany Historic District|Downtown Albany]], [[Menands, New York|Menands]], [[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]], and [[Cohoes, New York|Cohoes]]. [[U.S. Route 9 in New York|U.S. Route 9]] enters the county on the [[Dunn Memorial Bridge]] and travels through the city of Albany north, connecting it with the suburbs in the [[Colonie, New York|Colonie]] and Saratoga County. [[U.S. Route 20 (New York)|U.S. Route 20]] also enters the county on the Dunn Memorial Bridge and travels west through Albany (city) and the Town of [[Guilderland, New York|Guilderland]]. [[New York State Route 5]] and [[New York State Route 7]] are two important highways that bisect the county and are developed as important shopping strips.

===Mass transit===
Albany County is served by the [[Capital District Transportation Authority]], a five-county bus service that also serves Rensselaer, Schenectady, Montgomery and Saratoga counties. [[Greyhound Lines]], [[Trailways]], and [[Peter Pan Bus Lines]] buses all serve a downtown terminal. [[Chinatown bus lines]] leaves from Central Avenue and provide service to [[Chinatown, Manhattan]].

===Airports===
[[Albany International Airport]] is the only commercial airport in the county. Destinations for flights out of Albany include [[Atlanta]]; [[Las Vegas]]; Chicago; [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]; and [[Orlando, Florida]], among many others.

===Rail===
Since 1968 when [[Union Station (Albany, New York)|Union Station]] in the city of Albany was abandoned for a new station across the Hudson in the city of [[Rensselaer, New York|Rensselaer]], Albany County has been without a train station. Amtrak has several routes serving the [[Albany-Rensselaer (Amtrak station)|Albany-Rensselaer Station]]. The [[Adirondack (Amtrak)|Adirondack]] (north to [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]] and south to the city of New York), [[Empire Service (Amtrak)|Empire Service]] (west to Buffalo and Niagara Falls, south to New York), [[Ethan Allen Express (Amtrak)|Ethan Allen Express]] (northeast to [[Rutland (city), Vermont|Rutland, Vermont]] and south to New York), [[Maple Leaf (Amtrak)|Maple Leaf]] (west to Toronto and south to New York), and the [[Lake Shore Limited]] (at Albany-Rensselaer separate routes from Boston and New York merge to one train west to Chicago, on way east one train splits to two, one east to Boston and another south to New York).