We’ve frequently bounced around the question of what level of gas prices would start to meaningfully change Americans’ driving behavior. It seemed like we started to get an answer last summer, when pump prices were topping $4. The financial calculus of commuting from the far suburbs for a middle class salary seemed to be unraveling, but the spike was so abrupt and short-lived, and there was so much other craziness going on with the world of high finance in flames and the real estate market imploding and the stormclouds of an epic recession looming, it was hard to tell exactly what was driving the action.

A new survey from IBM called “The Commuter’s Challenge” confirms that the $4 - $5 range for gas really is the breaking point for a large number of Americans. Asked at what gas price they would seriously consider other options for commuting (besides motoring solo) a stunning 70 percent of people pegged their magic number at $5 or less. If it were a Family Feud question, $5 itself would be “number one answer,” in fact, representing 21 percent of respondents.

With our political system rather mired at the moment and incapable of proactive (or even appropriately reactive) policy-making, it seems more and more likely that meaningful progress toward a more efficient and sensible transportation system will come about only if/when petroleum prices head back into three-digit land. If oil bounces back to $150 or above, we’ll start getting smart as a matter of practical necessity and all this ideological tussling over cars and freedom and rail and socialism will fall to the wayside.

Somewhat related: An interesting notion that’s been gaining some currency lately is the four-day work week, as road-tested by the state of Utah. While it would require some fiddling with the way we do things, a “staggered” four-day week would be a cure to urban congestion in many cities and would instantly cut commuting costs by 20 percent. It would also give Americans a lot more free time.

The IBM study doesn’t mention 4-day weeks per se, but it does pose the question of what people would do if they spent less time driving to the office:

How would people spend their extra time if their commutes could be reduced?
• 52% would spend it with family/friends (+9% points from 2008)
• 37% would partake in recreation (+3% points from 2008)
• 37% would exercise (+6% points from 2008)
• 33% would sleep more (+2% points from 2008)
• 11% would work more (+2% points from 2008)

Sounds wonderfully healthy. Almost European, even (except for the exercising part). In reality, maybe that time would be spent playing first-person shooter games and eating Funyons instead of going on bike rides and having family dinners–but we can always hope.

In case you didn’t catch any of the abundant media coverage, there were World Naked Bike Ride protests in cities around the world last weekend. People of all ages and shapes and genders rode around with unconcealed bits to strike a blow against, well, the combustion of hydrocarbons. And also cyclist safety, which fortunately connects a bit more intuitively with nakedness.

We’ll go out on a limb and say it’s not quite a genius conceit, and it probably won’t move a lot of fertilizer salesmen in Tulsa or Wal-Mart clerks in Baton Rouge to give up their cars. But we won’t beat up on any of our cyclist friends, even the naked ones, because we support the basic goal here. Who can blame them for trying to capitalize on the fact that our little monkey brains are wired to find unending amusement in watching naked people? It’s also not their fault that PETA has ruined naked protesting forever.

Anyway we found the protests funny–laughing at? laughing with? unclear…–and compiled this video gallery. For the protection of our squeamish readers, we’ve ranked the videos roughly in order of viewability. Fair warning: it’s NSFW in the same way that a video of a shuffleboard tournament at a nudist colony might be. Which is to say, not remotely prurient — but try explaining that to some HR troll who catches you watching it.

Vids after the jump.

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There is a stereotype that public transportation is the domain of the minority poor in this country. While that’s accurate in some places, it misrepresents the broader reality. In fact, a plurality of users nationwide are white and only a minority are in poverty, according to a study by the American Public Transportation Association. Among Americans who ride commuter rail, subway, or light rail systems, a majority have a car at home.

In this chart, we’ve compiled the national results from that study and compare them with the demographics of transit systems in three U.S. cities: Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco (well, the Bay Area). The snapshot offers an intriguing insight into which Americans choose not to drive to work.

Click through for a full sized version of the chart.

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Both Austin, Texas, and Hartford, Connecticut, claim they’ll be offering their citizens “bus rapid transit” in the next few years. But with Austin paying only $1 million a mile for its new service, and Hartford shelling out sixty times that much per mile, can the two really be put in the same category?

Actually, yes. This chart illustrates the enormous cost differences for transit projects. The variations, of course, relate to the characteristics of the proposed lines. For instance, in the category of intercity rail, Ohio is upgrading freight tracks between Cincinnati and Cleveland at a cost of $1 million a mile to allow for passenger service at 80 mph. California, by comparison, plans to spend $65 million a mile for a brand-new 220 mph high-speed system linking L.A. and San Francisco. Not surprisingly, constructing a reserved corridor for bullet trains is exponentially more expensive than making improvements to existing tracks.

Similarly, while Hartford’s busway will run entirely in its own right-of-way and offer quick commutes, Austin’s MetroRapid will share its route with other vehicles and as a result will be quite a bit slower.

The point is that there are a wide range of solutions available, and it’s difficult to generalize about the cost of transit. It also tends to be true that you get what you pay for.

See the full-sized version of the chart after the jump.

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