In 2019, the MTA will suspend service on the L  train between the Bedford Avenue and 14th Street/Eighth Avenue stations for 15 months. Various L train shutdown mitigation plans have been floated since the announcement — a dedicated busway for shiny new diesel buses along 14th Street, additional protected bike lanes, and increased service on the J/M/Z lines. But the L is virtually irreplaceable, and hundreds of thousands of commuters need alternatives they can act on.

Earlier this month, urban design non-profit Van Alen Institute challenged straphangers to race from Union Square to Williamsburg while wearing mood monitoring devices. Participants were fixed with Multimer MindRider headsets — freaky brainwave sensors that track wearers’ heart rates and breathing patterns to determine anxiety levels and degrees of focus.