Hello Odograph,

I am definitely seeing more people commuting on scooters and motorcycles in Phx, but we have mostly non-raining riding weather nearly year round.  I found an informative link from last Aug. that highlights this growing trend:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9041933/

Bob Shaw in Phx,AZ  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?

Some time ago I looked at motorcycle use pre 1973 to 1982.  Miles traveled by motorcycle tripled then.

School buses are the safest means of transportation and they are not terribly energy inefficient so I do not see them as going away.  Perhaps less air conditioning, and other fuel savings.

BTW: Perley Thomas, the man who designed your streetcars in New Orleans (built 1923 & 1924) also built the first safe school buses.  Thomas Bus is now part of Daimler Chrysler.

Funny you mention scooters.  I sold m,y Jeep Grand Cherokee 6 months ago, bought a scooter, Piaggio BV500, and now use the scooter and public transportation to get around.  My plates say PK OIL.  I get a lot of folks asking what my plates mean and Iive them the Peak Oil run down.

I get 65 MPG highway and 55 city.  I felt that I was a hypocrite for driving the Jeep while I preached the Peak Oil gospel.  It helps to live in an urban environment, DC, but my scooter is a 500 cc bike and it can gi 100 MPH.  So it is fine on the highway if you have the nerve to do so.  It does get scary when a Tahoe blows past you doing 95 so I try to stick to back roads.  
I am looking at other ways to reduce my carbon footprint and I think we Americans need to get off our lazy butts and change the ay we interact with each other an the world so everyone has some shot at normalcy as we transition into a world of increasing oil scarcity.

Tony

Funny you mention scooters.  I sold m,y Jeep Grand Cherokee 6 months ago, bought a scooter, Piaggio BV500, and now use the scooter and public transportation to get around.  My plates say PK OIL.  I get a lot of folks asking what my plates mean and I give them the Peak Oil run down.

I get 65 MPG highway and 55 city.  I felt that I was a hypocrite for driving the Jeep while I preached the Peak Oil gospel.  It helps to live in an urban environment, DC, but my scooter is a 500 cc bike and it can gi 100 MPH.  So it is fine on the highway if you have the nerve to do so.  It does get scary when a Tahoe blows past you doing 95 so I try to stick to back roads.  
I am looking at other ways to reduce my carbon footprint and I think we Americans need to get off our lazy butts and change the ay we interact with each other an the world so everyone has some shot at normalcy as we transition into a world of increasing oil scarcity.

Tony