There should be ticker-tape parades, plaudits from politicians, back-slaps from an appreciative public. But instead we get nothing, nothing but another day on the bus or the train or the bicycle.

We’re talking about the legion of Americans who abandoned their cars during the record-high oil prices last summer and found alternative ways to get to work. Millions sacrificed their own comfort to protest gasoline prices. No more cushy leather seats, stereo music, and perfectly controlled climate. No more driveway-to-workplace transportation in your own vehicle. We waited in darkness, wind, rain and snow for public transportation, walked blocks to our stops, and braved the dangers of dark roadsides to protest what the speculators and OPEC were doing to our standard of living.

We sat in crowded tubes filled with people from all walks of life. Those going to managerial positions, and those going to see their probation officers. On Whidbey Island, we rode old buses with hard seats that third world countries wouldn’t take off our hands. We endured sneezing and coughs from endless strangers, and put up with the resulting increase in colds and flu. Runny eyes, runny noses, fevers and hacking coughs were all part of helping our country regain the lifestyle that foreign interests and heartless speculators were stealing from us.

After a few months, it started to pay off. National gasoline consumption flatlined and then decreased for the first time in history. With slackened demands, prices began to slip, from $4.25 a gallon to $4 to $3.50, but we still kept taking public transportation. We were making our point.

Then, we got some help. The financial crisis hit and thanks to our efforts, speculators realized oil wasn’t a sure-fire way to make money. They started selling, and the market started falling. Thanks to decreased demand combined with a dose of fear, prices didn’t just fall, they crashed. Less than a year ago we were told by Congress that the days of cheap oil were long gone. The future was scarcity and ever-increasing prices. Before long, we’d think $4- a-gallon gas was cheap.

In fact, before long prices plunged below $2 a gallon, and all the experts had gas on their faces. Predictably, none admitted they had been wrong. The just shut up about it and secretly hoped that prices would increase again so they could get on with their agenda of making Americans live like everyone else.

Thanks to public transportation riders, the only positive thing in the economy has been falling energy prices, which help keep people warm and Americans on the road. Every dollar saved on gas can be used for food, clothing, shelter and entertainment, boosting our own economy, not OPEC’s.

A few of us are celebrating our victory by returning to our cars, just for a short break from the tedium of public transportation. Nothing can beat the freedom and comfort of your own car. But we’re watching prices inch back up and as soon as they’re over $2.50 a gallon or so, it’s back to the buses. It’s a thankless job beating OPEC and speculators, but we do it for our country.