Lots of good points brought up in this thread so far, and we've managed to keep it non political.

Perhaps in some parts of the country there is not a noticable decrease in automobile usage, but according to this article we as a country are using far less gasoline than we used to. Assuming this article is accurate I suspect that a change of some sort is beginning to occur.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/angry-...efineries.html

In my household I now track gasoline usage in an effort to be able to project and budget my needs for the year. I have all but mothballed our old conversion van and abandoned our dreams of cross country trips wrapped in its comfort and luxury with my bike safely stowed inside. Instead I've purchased a hitch rack and installed a class 2 hitch on my wife's '96 Camry. Any traveling we do will be either by train or in the Camry with the bike on the back, and even those trips have been indefinately postponed. Of course, everyone's finances differ.

I still wonder if this is the year or perhaps the change has already started and I missed it?