With gasoline prices averaging above $2 a gallon and the summer driving season approaching, the Department of Environmental Protection offered these tips to help motorists conserve fuel and save on gasoline costs while also helping the environment.

-- Avoid quick stops and starts. This can save up to two miles a gallon.

-- Don't be an aggressive driver. It lowers gas mileage by as much as 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent on city streets, which results in 7 cents to 49 cents a gallon.

-- Avoid excessive idling. Sitting idle gets zero miles per gallon and consumes between one half and one gallon of gasoline per hour.

-- Check your vehicle's gas cap. Loose, damaged and missing gas caps allow 147 million gallons of gas to vaporize every year.

-- Check your tire pressure. When tires are under inflated, it is like driving with the parking brake on and can cost a mile or two per gallon.

-- Replace worn spark plugs in older vehicles. A vehicle can have up to eight spark plugs, which fire as many as 3 million times every 1,000 miles. A dirty spark plug causes misfiring, wasting fuel.

-- Replace dirty air filters that waste gas and cause engines to lose power. Replacing these filters can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent, saving about 15 cents a gallon.

-- Combine errands to reduce vehicle miles traveled.

-- Take unnecessary weight out of trunks or back seats. By some estimates, hauling around an extra 100 pounds can cost 1 mile a gallon.

-- Whenever possible, take public transportation or carpool.

Among the factors contributing to rising prices: unprecedented demand on global oil reserves, the U.S. dollar's declining value against other major currencies, declining refinery and distribution storage capacity in the United States, and continuing shortfall in new oil exploration.

5/28/2004