I think we’ve now seen this start to become a reality in a bigger way as transportation news is one of the biggest issues with Obama coming into office, we saw the big hike in bicycle usage across the country (and especially in Portland) as gas hit $4/gallon and above, and even in the midst of an economic recession (perhaps leading to a depression), bike shops all over are holding steady or even up in sales from where they have been in the past.

I think we humans often learn best from crisis and resistance, and hopefully the combination of oil rarity (and thus high price) and our current economic state will push people to really begin acting on suspicions that there might be a better way to do things.