A New York City subway ride remains, for many, an exercise in gaze aversion. Maps are inspected. Advertisements are read in their entirety. A staring contest with an empty seat can prove preferable to even the briefest human interaction.

And now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is churning toward a future where travelers will never again be disconnected from their cellphones while onboard.

At a forum on Tuesday, the authority’s chairman, Thomas F. Prendergast, said that transit officials hoped to add Wi-Fi and possibly cellphone reception aboard moving trains — in what appeared to be the first public acknowledgment that the authority’s ambitions for wireless service went beyond stations.

Mr. Prendergast said the push for expanded Wi-Fi and cellphone access was a reaction, in part, to the demands of the growing population of young riders.