Why do people move between subway cars when it's not because of a lack of seats in the subway car that they leave?

Answer 1

Most stations have a few different exits, and some of them are several blocks apart. At West 4th Street, for example, you can get out at either West 8th Street, West 4th Street, or West 3rd Street. So, sometimes people want to move to the other end of the train, so they can get off as close as possible to the exit they want to use. If you're in a car at the end of the train, going downtown into the West 4th Street Station, you're going to end up getting off the train near the West 8th Street exit. But say you want to get out at West 3rd Street -- you'll save a little bit of time if you walk to the front of the train, because then you'll be right in front of the West 3rd Street exit when you get off instead.

Or, sometimes people just want to find an emptier car, so they can have a little space. Three cars in a row might have only 5 or 6 empty seats each, while the next three cars have only 5 or 6 people in them.

A few years ago, though, the MTA started keeping the doors between cars locked, so people can't move from car to car anymore. I think they still do -- well, they were locked the last time I checked, anyway. Sometimes some of them might accidentally get unlocked from time to time, but I think in general the new policy still stands. I've always thought it was a bad policy. I mean, what if one of the cars catches fire? How are people supposed to get to the next one? Are we supposed to just jump out onto the tracks? The tracks are electrified! It's very dangerous! Besides fire, what if someone's bothering you or harassing you? How are you supposed to get away? Late at night, for women especially, this is a very real concern.