The folks behind the green blog treehugger.com are usually on about norwegian prefab housing and expensive bamboo furniture, but every now and then, they remember the lowly bicycle, and the potential it has to change the way we interact with our environment, on levels personal, national, and global. Today, they posted a tidbit about comfortable commuter bikes, and the trend that is driving all major bicycle manufacturers to release commuter models. Though I do take some quarrel with the idea of a bicycle that is designed only for getting to and from your job (I just went to the movies, for example, on the same bike I use for my commute), I understand that transportation to and from work represents the majority of travel for most people, so I’ll let it slide.
In any case, the article links to a listing with photographs of commuter bikes and gear produced and available in the US, which contains many models of which I was not aware.
More utility bikes there than you can shake a stick at!