I am one of the many people in the Metro Vancouver region who are classified as “transit dependent”. I do not have a driver’s licence, can’t afford to drive a car, and due to a series of unfortunate accidents, not very keen to get on a bicycle. For me, transit is not something I use because I have warm fuzzy feelings toward the environment. I use transit because I must.

However, when I use transit in Vancouver, it is more often than not a pretty horrible experience.

I don’t know what’s worse some days: the service or the attitudes of the riders. I assume that the majority of people who ride public transit are dependent on the service like me. So why are so many people so unpleasant to share a bus ride with? Sometimes it feels as though being in proximity to a bus utterly overrides a person’s common sense.

One morning, I was waiting at Broadway and Main for the westbound 99 B-Line. I always line up politely and wait while passengers are exiting the bus. On this particular day, I was standing at the front of the line and waiting for riders to exit when a man shoved past me and the people trying to get off the overcrowded bus while announcing, “I’m a student! I’m late for class!”

Riiiiight, I thought as I rolled my eyes, because I’m riding the bus for fun? I was already late for work because three other 99 B-Lines, packed to the brim with UBC students and hospital employees, passed me by that day. Every single one of us pass-ups on the sidewalk were trying to get somewhere on a time constraint, yet this man felt it was acceptable to physically push his fellow citizens aside in order to cram himself onto an already packed bus, women and children be damned.

As a rider, I cannot directly change any of the many things that irk me about Vancouver transit. However, I have realized what I can change—my attitude.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been conducting a very unscientific experiment to improve my bus-riding experience. My theory goes something like this: “If I talk to people on the bus, will they be nicer?” Guess what: riding the bus borders on pleasant when you acknowledge that your fellow riders exist.

As a transit-dependent musician, I frequently haul gear around with me. In the two and a half years I have been riding Vancouver transit, I have only once had a person offer me their seat on a bus. Most people, when I manage to catch their eye, quickly break off eye contact, pretending that they don’t see the girl awkwardly carrying 20 pounds of equipment with her.

Last week, I was on the 3 Main headed downtown on a bus that was beyond crowded. Normally, I would have cursed and shoved people out of my way while trying to extricate myself, my amplifier, and my guitar from the bus. Instead, I smiled at the woman sitting beside me, told her my stop was next, and let her know that I had a lot of gear to take with me. Not only did she smile, give me plenty of room, and chat with me until I got off the bus, but the woman standing in the aisle beside her grabbed my amp for me and helped me get everything off of the bus.

Two weeks ago on a rare sunny March afternoon, I hopped on the southbound 3 Main on my way home. At 5:30 p.m., this bus is always packed and usually running late. I managed to score a seat next to an older gentleman who politely let me know that he was going to get off at 49th Avenue. Instead of grunting and putting on my headphones like I would usually do, I ended up talking with him for almost 40 blocks and, when I finally got off the bus, I had a smile on my face. I wasn’t angry at the overcrowded conditions or the nearly 50-minute trip home; I was cheerful that I’d made a human connection with a fellow transit rider.

With the abundance of portable music players and cellphones, it’s very easy to put your blinders on while riding the bus and completely ignore the people around you. But I suggest that the next time you are feeling angry while engaging with transit, take a moment to consider that the dozens of people riding with you are also people—people with families, jobs, appointments, and schedules, all of whom are depending on public transit. Try to smile and strike up a conversation. You might actually enjoy yourself.

Follow Miranda Nelson on Twitter @charenton_.