By the way, what is the price of gas in the US right now? Where I am (Saskatchewan Canada), it would be about $3.80 a gallon.

I wonder how high it would have to be to truly encourage people to drive less? Everyone has pretty much stopped grumbling about the price now, and it's not like there are tons more people on bikes (or buses). I very much get the sense that a lot of people just can't imagine not driving the car everywhere they need to go, so they just pay whatever they have to.