HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- When gas prices were at their peak this summer, a lot of people were forced to change their driving habits. Even after the prices droped last month, sales figures showed that folks are still driving fewer miles.

So the question is are we making permanent changes?

"I got the bike two years ago and started riding last year when I took this job," Craig Rife said.

Craig Rife isn't exactly a crusader for the environment or two wheeled protester against big oil. After all, he does have a car that he'll drive to work on occasion.

"It's easier and faster. So I don't have to worry about parking and walking from the parking lot," Rife said.

Craig has an easy commute to his job doing computer mapping for the city of Huntington. The U.S. Department of Transportation says 50 percent of Americans live within 5 miles of the workplace, and higher gas prices this summer put more of those people on their bikes. Cooler temperatures and inclement weather in the fall and winter will undoubtedly drive many of those commuters back to driving.

Joe Mackey is the exception to that rule. But then again, he didn't leave himself with a choice.

"I got rid of my car in 87. I live downtown. I don't need a car," Joe Mackey said.

This summer the price of gas was crazy and that may have been a long awaited wake up call for citizens -- and our leaders -- to do something. As more people dusted off their bikes, more community leaders started dusting off those old transportation ideas for the future that were so popular during the last gas crisis of the 1970's. City leaders in Huntington are taking it even further by getting a first hand look at places like Portland, Oregon and envisioning a changing commuter scene around here.

The changes are already underway. The TTA has a plan to equip buses with bike racks, so people can ride to the nearest stop, hop aboard and finish their commute.

Of course, there's always the oldest form of transportation to help maintain your youthful energy. Dr. Jeff May is a biology professor at Marshall who lives close enough to campus to walk. He believes the path to our independence from a cars only society may not be easy, but is worth it.

The city applied for a million dollar grant to build the Paul Ambrose trail for health that would connect Huntington's city parks to a trail along the riverfront from Guyandotte to Westmoreland.