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GREGORY GIACCIO PUTS THE PEDAL TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF METAL. SOT GREGORY GIACCIO, BICYCLIST: "I really just like bicycling. If it didn't save me any money, I would still do it." BUT DOING IT IS SAVING HIM MONEY. SOT GREGORY GIACCIO: "I fill up my car about once a month, if that." AND FOR THOSE GETTING FED UP WITH FILLING UP, BICYCLING IS BECOMING A WAY OF LIFE. SOT ANDY CLARKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS: When it gets to your pocketbook and when gas hits four or five bucks a gallon and you're paying, ya know, 60 or 70 bucks to fill up the tank fairly frequently, then it becomes a lot more immediate and I think that's what we've seen kind of push people past a threshold over the last couple of months and say "OK, ya know, we really need to try this thing out and see if it's gonna work." IT'S DIFFICULT TO CALCULATE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GETTING BEHIND THE HANDLE BARS, BUT EXPERTS AND CYCLISTS SAY THEY SEE EVIDENCE OF THE TREND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. SOT ANDY CLARKE: As an example, we've seen in Briar County, Florida -- in Fort Lauderdale area -- they've had a great program for many years, it's had about 30 - 35,000 people putting their bikes on buses. In May of this year it went up to 68,000 riders. SOT ZACHARY MCADOO, WASHINGTON, D.C. BIKE COURIER: "The guys at the bike shops always are saying they sold way, way more bikes in the last year than they ever did. And you can tell by just looking at people." THE NUMBER OF RIDERS MAY SOON RISE AGAIN IN CITIES LIKE WASHINGTON D.C. WHERE A NEW BIKE SHARING PROGRAM IS ABOUT TO LAUNCH. JIM SEBASTIAN, TRANSPORTATION PLANNER, D.C. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: "We thought ya know one of the keys to riding a bike is having a bike and getting access to a bike." MELISSE HINKLE, REPORTER STAND UP: A MEMBERSHIP FOR D.C.'S BIKE SHARING PROGRAM WILL COST 40 DOLLARS A YEAR. RIDERS WILL GET A CARD LIKE THIS, SWIPE IT HERE, TAKE A BIKE FROM THE RACK AND PEDAL THROUGH THE CITY FOR UP TO THREE HOURS AT A TIME. SOT ANDY CLARKE: "In urban areas, 40 percent of the trips people make are two miles or less and about 90 percent of those trips are made by car, which when you stop and think about it really doesn't make sense. AS CONCERNS ABOUT PERSONAL HEALTH, THE ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY DEPENDENCE AND THE ECONOMY INTERSECT, INTEREST IN BICYCLE SHARING IS CROPPING UP ACROSS THE U.S. AND CITIES LIKE D.C. ARE WORKING TO IMPROVE BIKING INFRASTRUCTURE. SOT JIM SEBASTIAN: "We've put in 30 new miles of bicycle lanes, we've put in over 800 new bicycle parking racks." BUT CARS STILL RULE THE ROAD...AND IN THE BATTLE OF FOUR WHEELS OVER TWO, SAFETY IS TOP OF MIND. SOT JANELLE WETTOUR, BICYCLIST: "I've gotten hit about twice, once worse, but no injuries." BICYCLING ADVOCATES SAY THE CHALLENGE WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOUT BALANCING PERSONAL AND PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITY. SOT ERIC GILLILAND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON AREA BICYCLISTS ASSOCIATION: "Learning how to share the roadway from the cyclists standpoint and the driver's standpoint is really going to be key to the future." RECENT FIGURES FROM THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION SHOW MORE THAN 700 CYCLISTS ARE KILLED IN TRAFFIC-RELATED CRASHES EVERY YEAR IN THE U-S. DESPITE SAFETY CONCERNS, MANY CYCLISTS SAY PEDAL POWER IS HELPING THEM KEEP FUEL CONSUMPTION AND FINANCES IN CHECK. SOT MIKE ALONZO, BICYCLIST: I do drive a little SUV, which, working for my small environmental firm, it's better to just leave that parked. FOR UPI.COM, I'M MELISSE HINKLE

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