First it was $4 gas, and later it was the recession. Whatever the reason, Americans have cut back on their driving over the past 18 months.

That should mean fewer traffic backups on the way to work each day.

How does it look through your windshield?  Are you getting to work more quickly these days, and home in time for supper?  Do you think Triangle traffic problems have eased since 2007?

I'd like to get your perspective for a story I'm writing this week.  Please call or e-mail me, and be sure to include your name and daytime contact info. 

Saturday is your last chance to take the SmartCommute Challenge -- a good idea on its own merits -- and enter the drawing for prices including a $2,500 check.

So far 10,433 Triangle residents have taken the challenge -- which means they pledge to experiment with some commuting mode other than driving alone to work or school. In other words: bus, vanpool, carpool, walk, bike, telecommute, did I leave anything out?

The idea behind this six-week, three-county campaign is simple and smart. Give lots of people incentives to leave the car at home and experiment with other ways of getting to work, and some of this will stick. Some people will actually change their habits.

Details are online. 

As 26 cyclists set off for a leisurely loop through downtown Raleigh this morning, Jim Trogdon was the guy wearing a blue necktie and pinstripe shirt with his bike helmet.

“I usually wear a tie on Fridays, anyway – on ‘casual day,’ I wear a casual tie,” said Trogdon, assistant adjutant general of the N.C. National Guard and chief operating officer for the state Department of Transportation.

“Because of my tight schedule, I decided to bike to work in my duty uniform, but in a casual manner so I do not get too dirty and sweaty on the way in. And it’s perfect weather for that, cool today.”

It was a modest turnout for an event promoting Bike to Work Week. Many of the participants were bike boosters – city and state government and transportation and environmental officials, outdoor retailers, and retired veteran cyclists who still bike but no longer work.

Rebecca Ferres was a new recruit to the world of bicycle commuting.

“I just started yesterday,” said Ferres, 28, after the 15-minute ride around an 18-block circuit. Thursday had been her first day making the 5.75-mile commute from her home to her office on Fayetteville Street, where she works in the city’s stormwater compliance office.

“There’s a lot of reasons why, but I’m poor! I’m trying to save on gas. I need exercise. Environmental reasons. So there’s a hodgepodge of things. I was very scared when I first started, but I’ve gotten used to it.”

Dozens of helmeted commuters will tour downtown Raleigh on two wheels Friday morning, mingling with rush-hour automobile traffic in a group ride marking National Bike to Work Week.

Cyclists will gather on the north side of the Bicentennial Mall, in front of the Jones Street entrance to the Legislative Building. The event starts at 8:30 a.m. with a walk south through the mall and a ride looping around 18 blocks bounded by Edenton, Salisbury, Morgan, Fayetteville, Hargett, West and Jones streets.

Breakfast refreshments will be served at the end of the 45-minute ride. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, check the Bike to Work Week website or call 516-2158.

In honor of Bike to Work Week, enjoy this stop-animation show, "3.6 mile bike commute in 2 minutes," of N&O photographer Travis Long's daily ride to the office.

It's set to a frisky pedal-pumping track by The Cool Kids.

They say virtue is its own reward, and you could argue that taking the SmartCommute Challenge is its own reward, too.

But if it isn't -- if the experience of biking or carpooling or catching the bus is not enticing enough -- there are prizes at stake. Does that sound more rewarding?

The idea behind this six-week, three-county campaign is a simple and proven one. Give lots of people incentives to leave the car at home and experiment with other ways of getting to work, and some of this will stick. Some people will actually change their habits.

This really works. Frequently when I interview some Triangle commuter reading the paper on the way to the office, it turns out that he or she first got the bus-riding bug in a previous SmartCommute campaign.

Here's how it works:

From April 15 through May 30, any employee or college student who commutes to work or campus in Wake, Durham, or Orange County can participate. To enter the Challenge, make
your online pledge that at least once before May 30 you will carpool,
vanpool, bike or walk, ride the bus, or telework (work from home).

Everyone who takes the Challenge will be entered into a drawing to win one of several PRIZES, including $2,500 cash!

That's pretty simple. The website helps you figure out how you actually can ride a bike or a bus or join a vanpool etc., and of course it talks about those prizes. The campaign started last Wednesday, and 1501 people have signed up so far at the website.

Good luck and have fun.

Reporter Josh Shaffer paints a pretty vivid picture in today's paper about the congested nature of N.C. State's commuter bus line today.

He writes:

"On a Thursday morning at 9:53, riding a Wolfline bus feels like a trip on a New York subway after a Yankees game. Quarters are close enough on the standing-room-only ride to gaze deeply into your neighbor's ear."

Kinda makes you want to keep reading, huh?

Lucky for you, the whole story lurks just one click away.