Sentence:  I felt superior to the neighborhood friends I was leaving behind , felt older than my years , and was full of compliments for myself as I headed into the subway that was carrying its packs of <WSD>passengers</WSD> out of that dull borough and into the unstable , tantalizing excitement of Manhattan . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a traveler riding in a vehicle (a boat or bus or car or plane or train etc) who is not operating it