Pulling Out (from) All the Stops - Visiting all of NY's subway stops in record time

With 468 stops served by 26 lines, the New York subway system can
make visitors feel lucky when they successfully negotiate one
planned trip in a day. Yet these two New Yorkers, Chris Solarz and
Matt Ferrisi, took on the task of breaking a world record by
visiting every stop in the system in less than 24 hours. They used
mathematics, especially graph theory, to narrow down the possible
routes to a manageable number and subdivided the problem to find
the best routes in smaller groups of stations. Then they paired
their mathematical work with practice runs and crucial observations
(the next-to-last car stops closest to the stairs) to shatter the
world record by more than two hours!

Although Chris and Matt.s success may not have huge ramifications
in other fields, their work does have a lot in common with how
people do modern mathematics research

* They worked together, frequently using computers and often asking
experts for advice;
* They devoted considerable time and effort to meet their goal;
and
* They continually refined their algorithm until arriving at a
solution that was nearly optimal.
Finally, they also experienced the same feeling that researchers do
that despite all the hours and intense preparation, the project
.felt more like fun than work.
For More Information: Math whizzes shoot to set record for
traversing subway system,. Sergey Kadinsky and Rich Schapiro, New
York Daily News, January 22, 2009.
Photo by Elizabeth Ferrisi.
Map New York Metropolitan Transit Authority.
The Mathematical Moments program promotes appreciation and
understanding of the role mathematics plays in science, nature,
technology, and human culture.