Here's an unexpected development: Traffic in Los Angeles is not as bad as it used to be! Anecdotally, traffic anchors have been saying that commute time has reduced significantly. The Los Angeles Times theorizes it's because of the price of gas.

In fact, our gas consumption is down throughout the United States. So we do respond to price, though a 10% increase in price does not mean 10% of us will give up driving. It's more like a ratio of 100:1!

Consider this: Ultra cheap inter-city bus companies like Mega Bus have been successful in the Northeast and Midwest. But not so in Southern California. In fact, Mega Bus may pull out of Los Angeles because of low ridership. It would seem that Angelenos are willing to drive less, but they're not willing to ride a bus with strangers.

Across the country, what people buy and drive is changing. In multi-car households, folks are choosing the fuel efficiency of their smaller cars rather than the comfort of their larger vehicles.

Meanwhile, RV sales have collapsed. People who have them are parking them, and local RV dealerships are going out of business. But with hazard comes opportunity. If you like the RV lifestyle, now is a time to steal a sweet deal on this most unloved of all vehicles. Deals will be especially sweet on used RVs, which historically suffered heavy depreciation even in the best of times. The Wall Street Journal reports that the average price of an RV is down by a third in the last 2 years.