Issue date: 6/5/08 Section: CAMPUS NEWS

Media Credit: Bo Joplin Lisa Garza, senior, pumps gas at the Exxon on Interstate 35 and North Texas Boulavard. She rarely fills up her tank because of the high cost of gasoline.

Quik Trip Store located on East University Drive has to compete with the increasing price of gasoline.

Economists predict the price of one gallon of gasoline will average $4 this summer. A high price coupled with a recessive economy is leaving people looking for alternative transportation to save money where they can.

"Gas prices are definitely the main reason I ride my bike to school," business junior Chris Byrd said. "I'm two or three miles from campus. Driving, that's 25 miles a week, or two full tanks I'm saving."

The national average price for one gallon reached $3.983, according to AAA's Web site, which is the 27th record high in 28 days. Even though the price per barrel for crude oil dropped by $1.83 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price per gallon continues to soar.

Manufacturer's Transportation Inc., a nation-wide trucking company based in McKinney, spent roughly $120,000 on diesel fuel to power its 40 to 50 trucks last year.

Curtis Robinson, president and CEO, said the company plans to spend about $920,000 this year - an $800,000 increase.

Some tips, like planning ahead, using one long trip for multiple errands or driving the speed limit may be considered common sense. However, Miguel Garcia-Rubio, associate dean of the College of Engineering, has five additional gas-saving tips to get one's money's worth from every last drop.

Garcia-Rubio said under-inflated tires can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 7 percent and excessive idling wastes a lot of fuel. He also suggests getting a tune up, using the correct engine oil for the vehicle and changing dirty air filters to save more fuel.

In the Texas summer heat, gas becomes more expensive as the temperature rises, so Garcia-Rubio said to fill up at the coolest part of the day.

"Gas gets denser as it becomes cooler, and not all gas station pumps provide temperature correction when dispensing fuel," he said. "There could be a Volume Correction Factor of up to 3 percent in gas pumped in the early morning over that at 1 or 2 p.m."

Joe Richmond, associate director of UNT's Office of Transportation Services, suggests using the UNT shuttles and DCTA buses as well as using UNT's Rideshare Service, an online service allowing students to join or create carpools with common destinations.

While pricey fossil fuels continue to force Americans to find other ways to travel, scientists agree that alternatives must be found.

Brian Gorman of the materials science and engineering faculty said the two most practical alternative sources are compressed natural gas and electrical power, but problems come with implementation.

"The biggest obstacle for converting to another fuel source would be changing the infrastructure, developing a delivery system, being able to go a long distance between refueling or recharging," Gorman said.

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