Gas down, driving up (and bussing down?)

Following up on a post earlier in the week about what falling gas prices will mean for public-transit use, an article in the New York Times explored the fact that with gas prices going down, driving is going up--similar to the trend that saw driving go down (and public-transit use up) as gas prices were rising. From the Times article:

The sharp decline in gasoline use earlier this year — with volume down nearly 10 percent in some weeks — suggested to many people, including the automobile companies, that a permanent change in American habits might be at hand. But with gasoline prices falling drastically in recent weeks, some American drivers are returning to their old ways.

It is an interesting trend, which is certainly rational if not optimal (at least not for public transit proponents and companies and environmental advocates). We will have to wait for statistics from OC Transpo to find out what effect, if any, this has had locally.