because you’re moving your body and experiencing new things. that only works when you have time and energy and the areas of said subways are clean and crime free though. otherwise you’re aloof and alert and zombie walking mode. it is all subjective.

In traffic, the other people are the ones preventing you from going where you want. On public transit, there’s a sense of communal travel.

I think part of it is because you can see the people. You notice who they are, instead of just the big object in front of you, preventing you from moving.