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[[Sherbrooke]], [[Gatineau-Hull]], Drummondville, [[Chicoutimi]] and [[Rimouski]] are also important regional cities usually located outside the St-Lawrence river vallee corridor of Quebec-Montreal.
The cities and towns are usually well sprawled and crossing them can often be a pain if you are left at the beginning of them or downtown and want to avoid local traffic. As peripherical ways are usually inexistant, it might be worth then (although not best) to try along to stick to the main commercial road crossing the town, usually trying at the local petrol station.
The province is divide into Administrative regions (by the government and by Touristic Agency), which regions are subdivided into Urban area and Rural Counties, the urban area being usually the main Service Centre for a vast area. The urban areas are usually divided into boroughs which popular names usually differs from the 'official names' imposed by the government. The Rural counties are divided into municipalities.
==Local behaviour towards hitching==
In the majority of the province (Montreal Metropolitan Area excepted), hitch-hiking is well accepted and commonly used for local distance. So while travelling in the countryside it will be common for the people to pick a hitch-hiker for a couple of km further to the next village as it is seen as a local way of transportation since public transit is non-existant, most of these people will also belief that you might be the child of one of their neighbour and feel they have some community responsability towards the person standing. Less to say that they might be surprised to notice they picked a foreigner and quite flattered and happy of the encounter as it is not an everyday event in the majority of the province.
Long distance travelling will usually end up being something reserved to some major destination (such as Quebec-Montreal) as otherwise most of the destinations are not direct. This said, the scale of the country and perception of what is local and what is long distance might surprise people, 30km is a neighbour while up to 100km is still local.
Approaching people to ask for a lift is not common as standing with the thumb up is usually the main representation of searching for a lift, so many people might got surprised by the request. It won't be perceived as negative but just as simply uncommon.
This said, even if people are well receptive to hitch-hiker (elderly and women included), encounting red neck behaviour while standing along the road (ie. being yelled at, honked or fingered) will also happen simply as people are bored and you became an easy target to a prank. In another situation those very same people would probably react totally kindly and receptive if you would approach them at a Service-Station.
== Winter Hitch-hiking ==
BE CAREFUL
With temperature often dropping beneath -30 Celsius, you should not stand outside more than 15 minutes, wear the appropriate gear and make sure that you are never being stuck anywhere.
The majority of the roads will be slippery, icy or narrowed by the snowbank. So it will often be impossible for cars to stop by and pull over safely and they won't do it if they can't.
On another hand, every citizen should be bound by law to provide help and safety to every citizen in needs by the hazard of temperature. The reaction towards that will often differ, going from immediate support to a 'where have you left your brain... going out by this time'. It is true that it will be perceived as quite stupid and irresponsible to have dared outside without all the effective preparation by such weather.
Although and for that reason, no shops, restaurant or gas station would be allowed to kick you out of their property. Either no car would be allowed to ignore you if the needs is there. If you feel your life threatened by the hazard of nature, you are allowed to do anything possible to get help by the surrounding. Which would include entering a house, 'stopping' a car or denouncing to the authorities any refusal for help. This does not mean abuse and is to be use with logic and tact though. Bear in mind that if you attempt such behaviour, an investigation might be done afterwhile to verify if you didn't put yourself at risk at your own will and full knowledge of the risks! Which situation you are either by law not allowed to be!
==Road and Highway network==