How are you dealing with rising gas prices? Do you have tips to share with other drivers on how to save gas, where the cheapest gas is sold or alternative ways of getting where you need to go? This discussion topic is the place to discuss the problem and offer ideas.

There are many ways to increase your gas mileage. Tune-ups are first, slightly over inflating tires (less rolling resistance), coasting more taking off slower and coasting sooner, driving less, walking/cycling more, ride sharing...

I don't know about saving gas, that is unless you are carpooling, driving less, riding a bike, or taking the bus. I find I have had to off-set gas prices by cutting elsewhere...no more dinners out, daily coffee cut, take lunch to work, and stay home on weekends. Sure wish the SMART train was up and running then I could make it to Novato with ease.

I recently started carpooling 2-3 days a week with a co-worker.

And yesterday, for the first time, I cracked the $50 mark filling up my gas tank. Ouch.

Please keep in mind it's Bike to Work Week. I'm trying to get my family everywhere via bike these days and we are really benefiting from it in so many ways- health, social, financial...
I must say I don't feel as safe on my bike as in my car- but that is really just because everyone else is in a car and the lack of bike lanes downtown.

Gas prices aren't high enough and they're going up too slow. You can kill a frog in boiling water if you raise the temp slow enough. If gas prices suddenly jumped way up maybe we'd stop grumbling and cutting back and demand real public transportation, BART, SMART, buses local and commute (in both directions) Meanwhile, while in Petaluma, there's little reason for taking the car if you can walk a mile or ride a bike. But don't hold your breath for public transportation; you'll turn beyond blue before you get it.

CNN reports that gas stations will start showing P O R N movies on the screens of the pumps so that you can see someone else get screwed at the same time you do. !!

Have to agree, in large part, with HM above. A really severe gas price hike, like an all of a sudden two dollar a gallon increase because of war nerves for lack of a more expedient example, would shock a lot of folks out of their cars at least for a while. When I have been fortunate enough to work in town I always rode my bike to work pretty much rain or shine. I enjoy riding still and I intend to put some saddlebags on my bike so that I can make simple grocery and shopping trips on it. Can't do a week's worth of groceries on a bike, but you can get a couple days worth.

What I most agree with is that we need to demand real public transportation improvements. Fast tracking the widening of 101, which should have been done 20 or more years ago, would help things move better and help reduce travel time hence consumption. Around town the city bus service, while not ideal, can be effective. The routings could be a little more direct and that would help. SMART, done as light rail instead of heavy, with feeder lines (bus or rail as possible) from the outlying areas, needs to be done. I have commuted to Marin for much of the past 25 years and if there was rail available I'd ride it. It is far more cost efficient per passenger mile than buses. The downside is the high startup cost, particularly if the project branched off the single main line.

I'd not mind seeing the city take the really bold step of doing streetcars up and down our major thoughorofares and cross town. The engineers and planners seem intent on narrowing traffic to single lanes in many places and leaving huge amounts of right of way (more than necessary) for bike lanes. Why not think out of the box?

Finally... I have to agree with holding of breath. Nothing is going to happen any time soon. Our political leaders have pretty much seen to that.

Ya had me, BigDog, with the bike riding and the demanding public transit, but then you lost me big time with the widening of 101, which needs to be done only for the movement of more cars; but then you got me back with the street cars, which were destroyed by the oil and auto industry and would be expensive to put back, but which I would dearly love

Well I am glad I had you both coming and going....

Widening 101 has to happen. Cars, trucks, buses... they all need room that 101 as constituted does not offer. The popluation of the county has grown four fold since the bypasses were constructed, but that piece of infrastructure has barely grown a lick. The freeway that serves through traffic but it does not, or should not, impact getting around P-Town.

I'd love to see a light rail / streetcar solution serving the various cities and interconnected with rail between the cities. The key elements of that infrastructure existed for decades and were abandoned foolishly on the altar of the automobile. Cost and fuel efficient per passenger mile travelled... it's just those darned start up costs.

Besides Solar/battery power combinations, I believe that within City Limits that perhaps golf cart type vehicles should be allowed to use the streets with the use of a proper City Authorized permit of course. Since most of the ATV haulers have little beds they are perfect for hauling groceries and equipment around the town. The cabs already have windshields and an overhead for incliment weather, proper lighting such as tail lights, turn signals, headlights, even seatbelts. I have not seen a city go to this level of usage, although I believe it would really be accepted by most City Traffic users. Just my personal thoughts on this subject. Vehicles, parts and maintenance costs would be a lot less out of our pockets. I believe in between the usage of the new technology that we alerady have vehicles that could replace our expensive fuel burners and allow us to save not only some money but our environment at the same time. Just a personal thought that I believe that is overlooked because it seems so easy and logical to implement on a city permit level. Just to remind some out there that we still have horse and buggy and slower moving (SMV's) out on our roads in some areas of our country and the accident-incident rates are very low. Posting signs and getting use to the vehicles would happen in a very short length of time. Sure you will have some people complain, but that is the norm anytime...just think of the bike lane issues/complaints.

Love the streetcar idea! Even better would be to make it free like they do in Dallas, granted it's just one line that runs up and down the main drag but it's totally utilized. How they did it for FREE in Texas no less, is beyond me, but I've enjoyed the free rides in the past!

I bike the 4 miles to/from work and walk to places that are within easy walking distance (couple of miles).

We try to fill up gas whenever we head up to Costco in Rohnert Park because they have the cheapest, "dependable" gas <-- one reason why it'd be nice to have a Costco right here in town

Until public transit has more routes and more frequent routes, I can't see myself taking the bus anywhere even though I'd love to.

Oh yeah, we also don't drive like those drivers who floor their gas and then come to a screeching stop at a red light a few feet away

Personally I've been driving 4-cyl Hondas of one type or the other for 20-25 years. My current one uses a 2-stage intake system that can get over 36mpg cruising on the freeway (with the AC on) yet fast enough to blow by all the trucks and SUVs that block the road.

As for rising gas prices, while it's fun to think that might suddenly force people out of their monster trucks and SUVs... that joy is tainted by the fact that it also increases the cost of all our food and other goods that are brought to market by trucks.

A better idea is to have our goverment remove the "utility" exemptions on fuel economy, emissions and safety regulations for SUVs and other passenger vehicles. But as you know with a Texas oil man in the whitehouse that hasn't happened.

Again .. I'm not an expert on this subject .. but I do know that "the price" of oil and gas has a dramatic impact on a whole lot of things, including our individual pocket books.

During a recent search for various things, I stumbled across this video presentation of Robert F Kennedy Jr. It's sure making me think.
(It's not even supposed to be public, on YouTube, yet ô¿~)

Israel getting off of oil totally in 3 years? Brazil? Costa Rico? California, he says, is doing better than most? Because there's more involved in the cost of fossil fuels than just the immediate known costs ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnXaOgG21d0
What do you think?