Retail gasoline prices have tumbled to the lowest level in nearly five years.
AAA and the Oil Price Information Service say retail gas prices fell six-tenths of a penny overnight to a new national average of $1.64 a gallon. That's well below the year-ago average of $2.98 a gallon. The last time retail prices dipped this low was in February 2004.
Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service says Americans are paying about a billion dollars per day less than in July.
The global economic downturn has led to tumbling crude prices that have in turn led to enormous declines in the price of retail gasoline.
In the U.S., the world's largest energy consumer, Americans are driving less.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters says the travel habits of Americans are "fundamentally changing."
