If I Had A Nickel For Every Time Gas Prices Dropped In 2012...

... I'd have a nickel.

(CNN) -- Average U.S. gasoline prices have dropped more than a nickel over the past two weeks, marking their first dip since December, according to a nationwide survey published Sunday.

A gallon of regular now costs $3.91 on average, the Lundberg Survey found. That's down more than 5 cents from two weeks earlier, when the average was just a few cents below the $4 mark.

"We can thank crude oil for allowing gasoline to do what it has been wanting to do for weeks, which is drop," said publisher Trilby Lundberg.

Gasoline supplies are plentiful, but crude oil prices had been "propping up" gasoline costs, she said. As crude oil prices have stabilized, gasoline prices have fallen.

"We may see another five to 10 cents decline in the next few weeks" if crude oil doesn't rise, she said.

Sounds pretty iffy.

It's time Americans put more money and thought into public transportation that works, and is innovative and efficient.  Right now we have a piss poor system for getting around our nation, and all but a handful of cities are woefully inept at getting people from point A to B.

Finding ways for people to retain independence and have affordable ways to get to work is critical.  If we're giggling over a 5-15 cent drop in gas prices, it's a sign of how overdue it has become.  America can call upon its best and brightest and come up with better than the bloated Amtrak beast or expensive commercial  flights, and design systems that give coverage and availability to cities.

Solve the problem from the end you can control.  It makes sense.  It could fail, but it's worth exploring the idea of investing jobs and money into something that benefits the nation greatly and has the potential to snowball into a new era of energy independence.  We could at least give it a level shot.  It would require a lot of cooperation from every state, which may be enough to fail it right there.  It all starts with a good idea, we can cross the other bridges as we get to them.

I think the time has come to stop complaining and start proactively working towards a solution.  Minimum wage workers can't afford car maintenance and a commute.  It's hard to fault people for finding themselves caught, because individual transportation was common ten years ago.  Now it's a luxury, and more people are finding themselves stranded or scrambling to put enough gas in to last until payday.  Yet public transportation remains largely underused and inefficient, a missed opportunity to lessen the dependence on gas and help people have an affordable and useful alternative.

I hear a lot of attention to job creation, but we can't forget the notion of job sustainability.  A growing number of families have slid slowly into the Not Enough category at a time when financial help is stretched thin.  It makes sense that finding ways to get to work can be another point of stress, when auto maintenance and repair is put off to keep food on the table.  To keep jobs, people have to be able to get to work.  Public transportation is the logical answer to several needs.