Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"Well, behavior is changing in a number of ways. First of all, we are driving less. Traffic levels are down 1.4 percent this year compared to a comparable period last year. We're also consuming less gasoline. That's off .3 percent this year over last year. We're changing the kinds of vehicles that we're buying. SUV sales are down a whopping 27 percent from last year, truck sales are off 14 percent. And how are people getting to work? Well, an increasing number of people are using public transit. The use of public transit is at a 50 year high. Now, all these changes, I would say are exactly in line with what economists would expect from higher gas prices. People are looking for ways to move away from those higher gas prices, changing how much they drive, changing the kinds of vehicle they are buying and using more mass transit."