Americans hit with sticker shock at the pumps are finding solutions — conventional and unconventional — to ease the high cost of filling up their vehicles.

"It's just ridiculous," said Bob Swift, 32, a stone mason from Antioch, Calif., who sold two V8 vehicles and bought a Ford Ranger "in order to get a gas economizer."

Vivian Martin drives the seven miles from her home in Eufaula, Ala., to buy gas in Georgia, where she saves 10 to 15 cents per gallon because of Georgia's lower gasoline tax.

"It's a lot cheaper," she said. "It's not out of your way when you want to save a little money."

The AAA Auto Club said its survey of U.S. gas stations released Tuesday showed that the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $1.54. The main cause is OPEC's decision over the past two years to cut back on production to raise low prices.

While the oil cartel is expected to boost production later this month, lower prices aren't expected at American pumps for at least six weeks.

Atlanta radio station WSTR was overwhelmed last week by the response to its promotion offering free gas to the first 94 customers at a local Amoco. Within 30 minutes of the announcement, more than 200 cars were waiting, said Alan Hennes, the radio station's operations director.

"They were driving from 10 miles away to get the gas," Hennes said. "And it was everybody. You had everything from a Pinto to a Lexus."

At the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in New York, gasoline business has increased 10 percent in the last two weeks. Gas sells for $1.29 a gallon on the reservation, where vendors pay only the federal tax on gasoline.

"I've seen a lot of new faces," said Morgan Reid, general manager of JR's, a reservation convenience store.

At Bruce's Mobil in St. Louis County, Mo., customers were grumbling Wednesday after the station raised the price of a gallon of unleaded regular to $1.53 from $1.45.

"We don't like it, either," manager Keith Steinrauf said. "It's not us, it's the people that send us the gas. And the more the price goes up, the less we make."

Jackie Harris has a worse problem. As the manager of Bucky's Amoco in Council Bluffs, Iowa, she said the solution for some drivers is simply not to pay at all.

"We're seeing a big problem with drive-offs. People are just coming in, filling up and driving off," she said.

Andrew Winslow, a courier from San Jose, Calif., said he stopped buying clothes so he could afford to run his classic guzzler, a 1969 Chevrolet Malibu equipped with a new 9.2 liter 350 horsepower engine.

"Lately, I've been spending $100 on gas a day,' he said.

Some commuters have even started simply leaving their cars at home.

Frank Fulton, a spokesman for the Maryland Mass Transit Administration, said ridership on light rail and commuter buses has risen between 3 percent and 7 percent since February.

And the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority has experienced two consecutive months of increased usage. Spokesman Bobby Harper said ridership was up 2.7 percent in January from the same month a year ago and February figures indicate a 3.2 percent increase.

"Two months back to back certainly indicates something is going on," he said. "You can assume some of those people are saying, 'I'm just going to save some money by taking the train."'