Capturing the Dance of the NYC Subway Rider

Matt Flegenheimer describes the complicated calculus performed daily by riders of the N, R or Q trains, traveling uptown
through Midtown Manhattan, which is caused by an MTA dispatching quirk.

"Every morning, during peak commuting periods, two trains often arrive at
about the same time. Sometimes the express leaves first. Sometimes it
is the local. Sometimes at least two local trains will depart before a
single express does. Sometimes they move together. And virtually every
time there is a decision to be made, riders scamper across the platform,
groping for a competitive travel advantage even as they are unsure why
they have made their choice."

"It's a gamble that you take," Michelle Price, 34, an investment
adviser, said of the dash. "Sometimes you win; sometimes you don't."

"But there is often a deeper indignity conveyed in the expression of the
blundering traveler - a rare unguarded moment, when many others are
spent with faces buried in iPod playlists or other reading material.
Heads shake. Eyes roll. Teeth clench. Sometimes, someone chuckles in
resignation. They have gambled, and the city has won."