UPDATE: Fuel tips from abroad

When the traffic light turned red, Daniel Hasler switched off the engine.

Like other European friends, Dani, who is from Zürich, Switzerland, where gas hovers above $8 a gallon, is long accustomed to finding ways to both save gas and help the environment.

Turning off his car at a red light is one.

Lately, though, Dani stopped the practice. His car does it for him.

“I've become a real fan of the Prius,” Dani said of his new Toyota hybrid, which disengages the engine when at an extended halt.

Europeans have had higher gas prices than ours for decades. At a societal level, some of the money raised at the pump has been poured into a sophisticated and efficient public transportation infrastructure which reduces the need for using private cars.

At a personal and family level, Europeans invest in smaller vehicles with high gas mileage, share rides, walk and ride their bikes.

As we in America are suddenly confronted with gas prices higher than we’ve been accustomed to, our friends in Europe were pleased to offer some tips.

Curt Borgdén, who lives in the Stockholm, Sweden, suburb of Sollentuna, boasts exceptional mileage. He rides his bike to work. Gas in his town is currently $9.32 a gallon.

With Sweden’s excellent public transit system, on those days that his work as an engineer takes him into the capital, he just hops one of the region’s frequent commuter trains.

“Use your legs for walking and biking,” Curt advised, echoing a common theme heard while researching this article. Among other reasons, it's healthier.

During a 2006 visit to Crestview, Curt said his family observed, “American society is only built for cars and the effect is obvious when you get there as a tourist; my kids had never seen so many big people before!”

In Berlin, where gas is $9.60 a gallon, computer programmer Tilman Fischer sold his van and bought a more practical Opel Astra station wagon for his family of five.

His wife Sabine, a teacher, changed her assignment to a school closer to home, cutting her commute to walking distance.

Employers also encourage gas-saving commutes. “My company gives every employee a public monthly transport ticket,” Til said.

Bike riding and taking public transport are part of the Fischer family’s daily life.

“Everyone in the family has a bike and knows how to ride it since age 3,” Til said. “We stayed in town on purpose, so we don't have to drive too much.”

In Darmstadt, Germany, Dieter Heck is a security printing specialist for one of the city’s largest employers.

“Merck has a contract with the public transport corporation and guarantees that a certain percentage of the employees will use the public transport system,” Dieter said. “In return we get a 50 percent discount on the regular ticket price. I pay for example only €14 ($22.50) per month for unlimited transport,” he continued. “But most of the time I prefer to use my bicycle for my daily trip to work.

“My advice: Encourage the biggest employers in town to cooperate with the public transport company,” Dieter advised.

Joachim Öijwall, an application consultant in Stockholm, encourages us to work with local and regional government to improve our transportation.

“Give specific suggestions to local politicians to help route buses to and from living areas and work areas,” he suggests.

“The harder bit is to rebuild infrastructure and society,” Jocke said. “Make it easier and safer to ride light motorcycles, bikes or walk among regular traffic by having special paths for them.

“Make the city and society safer and friendlier so that people don't feel they need the safety of their car, and of course build better public transportation,” Jocke said, adding. “And why not having shorter working days?”

Til sympathizes with his American friends. “A steadily rising gas price is much worse than a price jump. That way you notice at least that something is changing,” he said. “Only a shock changes human behavior, nothing else is as good.”

In Munich, where gas has topped $10 per gallon, Stefanie Pollmann said, “Actually, people do not seem too worried about the prices here, not as much as in the U.S., as prices have always been higher and cars smaller.”

Steffi also suggests healthier forms of transportation. “What people do over here is walk more or use their bike,” she said.

To save on fuel costs, Steffi advises, “Get smaller, more efficient cars. How many of you really need an SUV or a truck?”

Tobias Wolf, also a resident of Munich, said, “I try to reduce the gasoline consumption by driving a bit slower, 80 mph instead of 120 mph on the Autobahn, saving about 20-25 percent.”

As do many Europeans, Tobi said his girlfriend, Friedi, “rides her bicycle to work every day, about 6 miles, instead of taking the car.”

Carpooling, just catching on in the Crestview area, “is quite a common thing in Germany,” Tobi said. In addition to regular carpools to and from work, people look to catch a ride with others, even strangers, when taking longer trips.

“Even my brother, who wouldn’t have done so before, is now looking for other people who are offering a seat in their car or are looking for a seat when he is visiting me,” Tobi said. “This is cheaper than a train ticket and it can also be nice to get to know other people and in Germany, it’s typically quite safe.”

And finally, Wendy Hammerstrom, an American whose husband works outside of London, said, “In the UK I drive a minivan and pay $8.20 a gallon for gas. If we’re going into London we take the train. Parking and traffic are major headaches.

“My attitude on gas prices is that we created this mess, so we should quit our complaining and figure how to fix it!” Wendy said.

It’s great advice. But is it the advice most of us want to hear?

View photos of some of our fuel-saving European friends.

Does Turning off Your Car at Stoplights Really Save Gas?

Just a few years ago, people would scoff and say you’d burn as much fuel restarting as you would idling for 30 minutes. That was before today’s electronic fuel injectors.

“Today’s cars … rigorously control the amount of gas delivered to the engine when you hit the ignition,” said columnist Brendan I. Koernor in “Slate” magazine. “As a result, virtually no fuel is wasted during startup, and only a thimbleful is burned as the car roars to life.”

Koernor said experts agree if your wait is longer than ten seconds, go ahead and turn off your car.

Another misconception is frequent starting will wear out your starter.

“Frequent restarting does create some extra stress on your battery and ignition mechanisms, though probably not as much as you'd think,” Koerner said. “According to a study by Natural Resources Canada, obeying the 10-second rule will add roughly $10 to a driver’s annual maintenance bill.”

However, citing a study by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, Koerner said, “If you're able to cut out 10 minutes’ worth of idling per day, and you need to restart your car an additional four times per day as a result, then you should save around 8.9 gallons of gas a year.”

The recommendation seems perfectly made for halts at those lengthy area stoplights such as U.S. Highway 90 and State Road 85, Stillwell Road and State Road 85, and State Road 85 at Wal-Mart.

(Save even more by parking and walking into fast food places rather than wasting time and fuel in the drive-thru.)