Environmental Awareness and Transportation

I just came back from a visit to Vancouver, British Columbia area. While I was there, I noticed a very different awareness toward the useage of mass transportation. Number one, It is used more heavily than Dallas, Texas. It could be the price of gas which was the equivilant of $3 to $4 a gallon (I mean liter) there. But more people used bicycles, bus, trains and ferries than cars.

Compare that to Dallas where people use a car per person on the road. I think they actually enjoy sitting on the highway getting their blood pressure up, screaming at the people in front of them. So what is the difference in the individual's mental model between American and the car and the Canadian and the car?

Personally, I think it is the heat. Dallas is like fried-eggs-on-the-sidewalk hot. But the climante in BC is a balmy 80 degrees. You can't talk me into riding a bike in 103 degree weather. But 80 degrees I could do and actually enjoy it. As one young Canadian laughingly commented, "So you go from an air-conditioned home, to an air-conditioned car, to an air-conditioned workplace." Yep... that's Dallas!

The other side of it is - that BC's transportation has fairly reliable as well as frequent time schedules. In Dallas, the bus system schedule varies depending on the driver's mood. It could be 20 minutes early or 20 minutes late. You can never predict it.

I also noticed, that when people got off the bus they actually THANKED the bus driver! HUH? So does that mean that Dallas people are just grumpy or couldn't give a rat's nest about being "polite". Of course, I have a feeling that if you thanked a Dallas bus driver they would faint from surprise. Not only that, but the Canadian drivers carry on amiable conversations with their passengers - telling newcomers where to get off or what other bus could take them to where they want to go. People look just as busy in BC as they do in Dallas, but they seem to use their busyness differently than Dallasites. More laid back. More people oriented. More friendly. More outdoorsy.

MUST be the weather.

Tell me what you have noticed about other places or cultures different from what you are experiencing in Dallas.