Setting up a viable public transportation system is vital to conserving the ever decreasing supply of petroleum.
At the present, viable public transportation system only exist in big cities like NYC, Boston, etc. I am from NYC, so I know one can get by without having a car. It is a bit inconvenient, especially for shopping, but you can definitely get by without having a car in NYC.
Not so in the rest of this country. In a lot of places you would be stranded without a car.
Instead of riding cars, people should really start riding bicycles, or those small bikes with motors on them. And the government should initiate drastic changes in city planning, with supermarkets, grocery stores, retail stores, schools, churches, etc. relocated much closer to residential areas, so people can actually walk to those places instead of having to ride in a car. Having all these places scattered all over the place over such long distances is frankly illogical and wasteful.
The government should really start investing in building an electric train system nationwide like that of Japan's. The subway cars in NYC are old and probably not very energy efficient. We really have to start to make serious investment in those high speed electric trains. Railroads is still by far the most fuel efficient way to travel over reasonable distances.
