They say gas prices are going through the top of the pump this summer, upwards of $3 per gallon.

Gee, what a surprise. In the last thirty years, US car traffic has only increased 143 percent. We idle away a mere 5.7 BILLION gallons of fuel in traffic jams alone. Wasted gas and wasted time costs us only 72 BILLION dollars every year. Those types of numbers are so enormous they sound fictitious, but it's all according to the Department of Transportation.

Whatever happened to "willful waste is woeful want?"

We've been here before. I remember the '70s gas shortage, nearly thirty years ago. The Middle East was a mess and big oil, big auto and OPEC had Americans dancing at the end of their strings. Fast forward to 2004 and what has changed? Incredibly, Americans are more dependent on cars, not less. Gas guzzling autos and SUVs are the norm, public transport is embarrassingly inadequate, pathways for conveyance other than motor vehicles are essentially nonexistent, and more than ever the environment foisted on us demands an automobile, and that to the devastation of the real environment. You know, the one we can't replace.

What havoc we have wreaked on this world since oil first started spouting from the ground in Titusville, Pennsylvania a mere 145 years ago. A few made gargantuan fortunes, travel barriers disappeared, economies were created, atmospheres destroyed, and the leading cause of death for anyone between age 1 and 44 is now a car crash. Pricey trade-off, ain't it?

All the while that traffic was increasing 143 percent, the number of roads increased only five per cent. Before we try to make up the other 138 per cent in more roadways, let's think about this: How about we fix the roads and bridges we have and give as much effort to reducing the number of individual cars as we do to building roads? If we build more roads, more cars will come and all the problems that come with them.

Let's strive for balance of all types of transportation. I'm not saying get rid of cars. I like my car, but I don't like being enslaved to it or to the greedy whims of those who set gas prices. Consumers and voters too often underestimate their power and it's remarkable the effect a small action multiplied 280 million times can have. Remember the simple law of supply and demand. Drive less, use less gas.

Walk your errands and walk your kids to school.

t's good for you and it's good for them. Ride a bike, take the bus, or share a ride with friends a couple of days a week. If enough of us do it and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, then it's good for all of us.

Brenda Berstler is the founder of the Walking Example Group (WE-GO) a non-profit organization encouraging walking and walkable communities. Visit their website at www.we-go.org.