Check the air pressure in each tire and if there are any tires with either too much or too little tire pressure, then correct it by either adding or reducing the air pressure until it is at the recommended air pressure as marked on each tire.

Reduce Weight

The more that the car weighs, then the less mileage the automobile will get per gallon of gas. Reduce weight by removing any extra loads from inside the automobile or the trunk.

Engine Tune-up

When car parts get old, then they start failing to do what they were designed to do and the failure of these parts can lead to poor gas mileage among other things. Get a tune-up at least once a year, so that the belts, spark plugs and spark plug wires can be replaced if needed.

Fuel Filter

A bad fuel filter can cause poor gas mileage, so it is important to have it checked out by someone who knows what to look for and replace it if needed.

Air Filter

Routinely, check the air filter to make sure that it is clean. The air filter cleans the air that circulates through the in-take of the fuel system and if it becomes dirty, then it could cause the engine to get less air and could lead to poor performance and less gas mileage.

Avoid Idling

Idling while in slow moving traffic or in a fast food drive-in are the worst culprits of poor gas mileage, because idling continues to burn gasoline whether the car's moving or not. Turn the engine off if parked or waiting for a train to pass, so not to idle as you wait.

Mapping

Planning long road trips can save gas and time on the road and this prudent planning can solve the same travel problems that many commuters face, just going to work and back. Avoiding road construction, traffic bottlenecks and wrecks check the local traffic reports on the radio, television or Internet, before hitting the road.

Reduce Speed

The faster that the car is moving, then the more fuel that is being used. The ideal top end travel speed is 55 mph on the highway and traveling any faster would reduce the mileage per gallon of fuel. Slow down and relax.

Smart Shopping

Not anymore is it smart to visit multiple stores to save a few extra dollars on the things that you buy, because with gas prices shattering records everyday it simply cost more to drive different places to just buy things on sale. Visiting local malls and shopping centers can reduce the amount of driving that will be needed and most malls/shopping centers carry just about everything that most people could ever need.

Car Pooling

Share a ride with a co-worker or friend on the drive to work, home or shopping. This will not directly increase the fuel mileage regarding the vehicle being used, but taking turns driving will save money in the long run.

There's View St, which is right in the middle of the city. It runs between Moray Place and Tennyson St, and is relatively short. Even so, a climb up this street will leave you breathless. Cars park on it in what is known as 'angle-parking', that is, they park with the bonnet or the boot at right angles to the footpath. This requires some degree of skill to get out of the vehicle. For the person on the up side of the car, it's a major effort to push oneself up and out against gravity. For the person in the other seat, there's a considerable danger of falling out of the car and rolling down the hill.

Then there's High Street. Whereas in England a High Street is usually the main street, here in Dunedin, High Street is literally a high street, going up from the main street of the city to the hills in Mornington. It's not very steep, except for one short stretch, but again it's a challenge for someone to walk up. Especially someone lacking in fitness.

In former days a cable car used to go up and down this street, and sometimes, unaccountably, it would stop on the steepest portion, leaving all those in it - or hanging precariously off the straps on the sides - wondering whether they were just about to roll right back down to the bottom.

Talking of cable cars, there was another one which has been removed, and which used to do the Maryhill run. It's a great pity this was taken away as it would have been of considerable interest to the many tourists who now visit the city.

This cable car used to go out the back of the sheds in Mornington township. For a brief moment it sailed along on the flat, and then suddenly it went over the side, and down a very steep piece of street. People sitting with their backs to the direction of travel would have been looking at the sky, if they could see through the roof of the car. People sitting on the slippery polished wooden seats, and facing the direction of travel, were always in danger of sliding off into their opposite neighbors' laps.

There's no chance of this cable car being reinstated, unfortunately, as a homeowner has now built a house directly in the place where the car used to travel.

And one final street to mention, at the moment. This is Lancefield Street, which heads down from the end of Mornington to Caversham. Unlike Baldwin and View streets, this isn't straight. It winds down the hill with some of the sharpest corners to be encountered in the city. Cars traveling up or down and meeting a vehicle coming the opposite way have to slow down to a crawl to negotiate the tight bends. There's no place to pull over - unless you want to pull over and topple off the side of the hill.