http://i51.tinypic.com/35lw0g2.jpg
This is the best image I have off-hand of the style of closets that are in the freshmen five. If you take a look at the ‘Room Photos’ tab under Freshman Five Pictures, you can find pictures of all of the rooms. The door with the towel on it in this photo slides from left to right to expose the space for hanging things, as shown in the closet on the right-hand side. I would estimate that there are about 30 horizontal inches of hanging space. If this isn’t helpful enough, let me know and I can hunt down better details and a photo that concentrates on the closet.
On holidays (winter break, spring break, and summer break), campus shuttles make runs to the airport, train station, and bus station for free. You have to sign up with Public Safety and they are only offered on specified dates. Other than that, I would highly suggest that you make friends with some upperclassmen. They might have a car AND could be great mentors to help you figure out how to make the most of your time at Rensselaer. (plus $5 in gas money is much less than $20 for a cab)
Public buses for CDTA do make stops on campus! Take a look at this link and look for RPI towards the right-hand-side of the document. There are actually quite a few routes and stops at RPI: http://www.cdta.org/images/troywaterinset.pdf