Consumers keeping more: gas prices falling

That pickpocket at the pump is getting a bit less greedy as the autumn goes on.

Gas prices, scourge of the auto-dependent consumer and the carbon-burning economy, have fallen in metro Atlanta from a mid-summer crest of $3.69 a gallon for regular to an average of $3.24 a gallon as of Wednesday, according to Gas Buddy.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, at least 15 stations in metro Atlanta were selling regular gasoline for less than $3 a gallon, Gas Buddy said. Not a lot less, but the marker is significant – as is the trajectory: Crude oil is the main driver of gas prices and recent drops in the price of crude have not yet made it through the pipeline to the pump.