For the first time since at least the era of token fares, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is redecorating its stations, rethinking its systemwide network of turnstiles to match ridership trends amid wide-scale demographic shifts in the city.

In part, the authority is shuffling station furniture to improve passenger flow, calling to mind a disparate pool of sources: a little bit of Disney mixed with feng shui.

The changes, part of a roughly $900,000 project, have drawn on observations of riders’ entering and exiting behaviors, bolstered by data on which specific turnstiles are used most at particular stations.

The analysis reveals New Yorkers to be as stubborn as they are strategic. They move in straight lines whenever possible, often refusing to use exit points that require a zig or a zag. They hew closely to routine, moving through clogged but favored exits even when straying would most likely get them out of the system more quickly. And many will push through whatever exit is in front of them, be it a turnstile or a siren-inducing emergency gate.