enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

Tired of paying $65 a week to commute to work in her Ford F-150 pickup, Paula Kosluk of Waterboro bought a fuel-efficient Suzuki motorcycle. She says that cut her weekly gas bill to about $10.

enlarge John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

This South Korean United Motors Matrix 150 is among the larger scooters for sale at Alpha Sports Center in Limerick.

HOW TO SAVE GAS

DRIVE LESS: Combine errands, walk, ride a bike, stay home.

CARPOOL: Every day you share a ride to work with one other person cuts the commuting cost by 10 percent. Visit www.gomaine.org to find car pool partners or van pools.

SLOW DOWN: Fuel efficiency drops rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.

DRIVE SENSIBLY: Aggressive acceleration and braking can reduce fuel efficiency more than 30 percent.

DON'T IDLE: Modern engines can warm up on the road, and idling even a minute wastes more fuel than stopping and restarting the engine.

REDUCE WEIGHT AND DRAG: Car-top carriers and excess weight in the trunk lower fuel efficiency.

MAINTAIN CAR: Keep the engine tuned and tires properly inflated.

BUY A FUEL-EFFICIENT VEHICLE: Trading in a 20-mpg vehicle for a 30-mpg car will reduce gas costs for the average driver by about $5,000 over five years at current prices.

Sources: www.fueleconomy.gov and staff research

As the price of gas keeps rising, Greg Dismore of Portland often asks himself if the time has come to unload his 10-year-old Toyota 4Runner.

"Does it make sense for me to be driving this?" he said.

Although the self-employed carpenter could get by with a more fuel-efficient station wagon, the costs of trading in the SUV are too high, Dismore said. "For me, the least expensive transportation I have is what I have," he said.

So, rather than changing what he drives, Dismore has changed how he drives. He makes fewer trips and chooses jobs close to home, and he improved his mileage to nearly 20 mpg by slowing down on the highway.

"Just to keep it down to 55, it makes a difference," he said. "I get as (much) mileage as I can, and I don't have (loan) payments."

Gas is hard to live without, especially in a rural state like Maine with a landscape and an economy built around the personal motor vehicle. But Mainers are figuring out lots of ways to reduce their gas usage as surging oil prices push the cost of fill-ups into uncharted, even frightening, territory.

Some are trading in gas guzzlers for fuel-efficient cars, motorcycles or scooters, accepting the big up-front investment in order to save money down the road. Others are pedaling bicycles, walking or carpooling to work. And many, like Dismore, are changing driving habits and keeping a close eye on the gas gauge.

"The average American household will spend $3,950 this year on gasoline," said Ronnie Kweller, spokeswoman for the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. That's a 35 percent increase from 2007, she said.

Driving habits and maintenance practices can save the average motorist hundreds of dollars a year, she said. The organization's new Web site -- drivesmarterchallenge.org -- calculates how much motorists can save depending on the vehicles they drive.

"There's not a lot that people can do about gas prices, but folks can pay less by being more fuel-efficient and using less fuel," she said.

In a sense, motorists are now learning the lessons that have been drilled into professional truck drivers for years.

Jeff Fogg, who sells truck engines for Milton CAT in Brewer, trains the pros to burn less fuel. He said the same principles apply to commuters in cars and pickups.

"There are two things that I see that are very easy ways to save fuel. The first thing is to slow down, and the second is to shut your (vehicle) off," he said. "Speed is probably one of the largest contributors to fuel consumption."

Gas mileage generally drops off fast as a vehicle goes faster than 60 mph, according to fueleconomy.gov, a Web site created by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Driving 60 mph instead of 70, for example, can save the equivalent of 40 cents per gallon of gas, the site says.

Drivers also can save a lot of fuel by accelerating gradually and not revving the engine as the vehicle moves up through the gears, Fogg said. Slowing down gradually saves gas, too, not to mention wear and tear on brakes.

Keeping the engine running when you're sitting still is an obvious waste of fuel -- you get zero miles per gallon, after all. And, despite widespread beliefs, modern cars and trucks do not need to be warmed up before they hit the road, Fogg said.

"Most of the idling that you see going on is due to bad habits and not necessity," he said.

Kweller, of the Alliance to Save Energy, said vehicle maintenance also saves fuel.

Keeping a car's engine properly tuned can save 4 percent on fuel usage, and replacing a clogged air filter can save up to 10 percent, according to fueleconomy.gov. Simply keeping a car's tires inflated to the proper pressure can increase fuel efficiency as much as 3 percent,...