ShareThisCalifornians cut down on their gasoline usage at the start of the year, continuing a two-year trend linked to ever-rising gas prices.Californians used 4.5 percent less gasoline in January this year than they did a year ago, according to statistics released by the Board of Equalization.BOE said 1.234 billion gallons of gasoline were used statewide in January, about 58 million gallons less than the 1.292 billion gallons used in January 2007. The totals included use of aviation fuel. Gasoline consumption has fallen for two years in a row, with seven consecutive quarters of decreased use, BOE officials said Wednesday."We have never seen a sustained decline like we've seen in the last couple of years," said Anita Gore, board spokeswoman.For all of 2007, BOE said Californians used about 1 percent less gasoline compared with the previous year - 15.672 billon gallons compared with 15.825 billion in 2007, a decline of 153 million gallons.The average pump price of gas statewide in January was $3.30 per gallon, 68 cents higher than the average of $2.62 in January 2007, BOE said.Since then, prices have risen even more. Over the weekend, the price of self-serve regular cracked $4 a gallon in San Francisco and hit $3.90 in Sacramento.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Californians' gasoline consumption continues to drop
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