We all lead our own separate little lives, but remain connected to the rest of the city through our shared reliance on public transit. But while we’re constantly running into familiar strangers, our ties to them are weak and rarely progress beyond that.

There is a certain expectation when riding public transit to keep to yourself. We tend to avoid eye contact, play with our phones, and wear ostentatious headphones — signalling to fellow passengers that we’d rather be left alone. Should that change?

Well, contrary to our intuitions, when people go outside of their comfort zone and engage in small talk with fellow passengers, they not only end up feeling happier afterward, but strangers are often more than happy to entertain a conversation.

Photo credit: Mark Konkol

You might recall memories of riding the bus home after a long day of classroom drudgery — it was a chance to catch up and socialize with friends.

Of course, things are a bit different when you’re riding with strangers, but researchers have found that when we talk with people we don’t know, it actually makes us feel just as happy as when we interact with our friends.

With strangers, we try to put on our best face in order to make a good first impression. We aren’t as quick to indulge our grumpier thoughts — and that’s a good thing. In fact, the subconscious effort to appear friendly makes us feel better about ourselves. That’s why we find friendly encounters with a cashier, barista, taxi driver — or, heaven forbid, a stranger on the metro — so pleasant.

When you try to be nice to a stranger, it makes you think nicer thoughts.

Researchers think “social” transit might make us happier, but is it actually feasible? Some transportation companies think it is.

Navigation apps have begun crowdsourcing traffic reports, ridesharing companies have begun introducing personality profiles for their users, and San Francisco start-ups have rolled out their first fleet of hipster caravans.

All of them are trying to make transit more social. But is this just corporate idealism run amok, or can technology actually make strangers talk to each other? Well, let’s just say that anything is possible…

In the meantime, the next time you’re on the bus and see someone familiar, maybe you should put down your phone — and just say hi.

And as far as icebreakers go?

“Did you read that piece about Montreal’s familiar strangers?”

Find out about familiar strangers on your STM line here.