Gas prices in Utah have fallen more than 70 cents after hitting a high of $4.22 in July. However, wary drivers say they’re sticking to frugal gas use habits for now.

According to Utahgasprices.com, as of today an average gallon of unleaded gasoline in Utah cost $3.51, while in Tooele it cost a few cents lower at an average of $3.48. John Sutton, of Grantsville, said he is glad gas prices have gone down, but still plans to reduce his fuel consumption.

“I’m still not traveling as much or trying to use as much gas as I used to,” he said. “In fact, I just bought my wife a little Toyota Corolla so we could save on gas. We also don’t drive around as much or drive when we don’t need to. We’re doing a lot more walking as well.”

Sutton continues to fill his large Jeep Cherokee only part of the way up in order to save money.

“We usually just put in $20 to $30 at the pump,” he said. “We want to have just enough to keep us going for awhile.”

Hedy Montoya, also from Grantsville, said despite the drop, gas prices remain unreasonably high.

“I pay more to fill my car up now than I paid for my first apartment’s rent, which was only $50 back in the day,” she said. “Gas hasn’t gotten back to the way it was a few years ago, and I think it’s horrible that we now get excited about $3.47 a gallon these days. It’s getting to the point where you have to start buying a horse to make transportation cheaper.”

Montoya, who drives a Chrysler PT Cruiser, said she even had to sell her much larger Chevy Trailblazer because of rising gas prices. She also tries to conserve gas by planning trip routes.

“I’m now consolidating all my trips into one, so I also stay out longer to make sure I get everything done that I need to,” Montoya said, adding that her frugality is paying some dividends. “I have noticed there is more money in my bank account for food and other necessary items — but it’s nothing to brag about.”

For local drivers who didn’t alter their habits during the gas price runup, the sinking prices have brought welcome relief.

“I used to spend $75 to fill my SUV a few months ago, but now that gas has gone down to around $3.50 a gallon, it’s only about $50 to fill it up,” said Chad Byrne, of Erda.

Steve Bonjour, of Stansbury Park, said the drop in gas prices has helped him save money for more recreational getaways.

“I’m glad that I’m spending less money on gas in general and not having to fill up as much,” he said. “Because of that, I have actually been able to plan two more trips for this month than I would have been able to before. I’m planning to go to southern Utah twice this month, and it’s in part because gas is now cheaper than it was before.”

However, colder weather may reduce alternative transportation options such as walking, biking and motorcycling that many drivers have taken to.

“I actually started riding a motorcycle to work when prices were up near $4 a gallon, because you could go a week-and-a-half on a tank of gas,” said Caleb Knoblauch, of Tooele, who drives a Chervolet Silverado for his company. “It now costs us about $125 to $130 to fill up my company’s service truck. Hopefully gas prices go down as the weather gets colder.”

According to the Energy Information Administration, which provides official energy statistics from the U.S. Government, the average price of gasoline nationwide was down to $3.48 as of Monday.

Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com