Who would've guessed? Commuter cycling in New York City rose a staggering 35 percent between 2007 and 2008. High gas prices played some part, yes, but the big factor seems to be the city's investment in more and better bike lanes—it seems people will happily start pedaling as long as they don't have to weave through traffic and risk getting squashed. Now, I'm not too keen on the idea of Congress handing out tax credits to bicyclists—there was a small amendment in the recent bailout package that did just that—but, if we're trying to reduce our oil use, shifting a bit more federal transportation money toward bike lanes makes plenty of sense. Sure, it mainly benefits city dwellers, but that's still a whole lot of people.
--Bradford Plumer