Honolulu wedding coordinator Lisa Sugiyama welcomes the recent drop in gasoline prices, although so far it hasn't been large enough to make much of a difference in her lifestyle or driving habits.

Like many drivers interviewed yesterday, she considers the gap between gas prices in Hawai'i and on the Mainland as just a fact of life.

"So what else is new?" the 44-year-old said as she filled up at Lex Brodie's on Queen Street. "That's always how it is here. The prices are always higher here in Hawai'i."

Honolulu gas prices have been falling, but at a slower pace than the national average. Gasoline prices nationwide have declined about 75 cents in two months, but Honolulu's average gas prices fell just 34 cents over the same period. The Honolulu average for regular unleaded yesterday was $2.91, while the national average was $2.26, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Several factors contribute to Hawai'i's high gasoline prices, including the state's isolated, small market, which isn't subject to the same fluctuations in supply and demand that force Mainland prices to move. The high cost of doing business and high taxes also play a role in pump prices.

Kapolei resident Karen Jimerson said the lag in price change in Hawai'i seems reasonable to her.

"You have to sell the gas that you paid at a certain price before you can restock at a lower rate," she said. "So that kind of makes sense."

Jimerson was optimistic that prices will continue to go down and get closer to Mainland prices. In the meantime, the 41-year-old Clear Channel Communications employee hopes to continue the "good habits" she picked up when gas prices soared, such as grouping her visits in one part of town rather than driving back and forth.

But Kailua resident Chuck Hurd said he can't see how price reductions here could lag so far behind the Mainland.

"I can't think why that would be because stocks get used up regularly and they should have been able to bring in the new purchased wholesale stock of gas," he said. "I think there's manipulation, and it's not at the retail level. ... "

"Why does everything cost more, too? ... Because labor is costly in Hawai'i, because real estate is costly in Hawai'i, people expect everything to be costly in comparison to cheaper Mainland markets. And so there's a certain tolerance we as consumers have for prices being outrageous all the time. I honestly think that that's a mindset, that we don't expect to get good bargains."

Hurd, a 60-year-old mediator, drives a hybrid car and usually only buys gas at Lex Brodie's and Costco. But even with the recent drop in gas prices, he and his wife are considering replacing their second car, a Lexus, with another hybrid vehicle.

Manoa resident Claire Hughes also tries not to drive as much. She said she still goes "into shock" when she gets her gas bill, although yesterday she spent $31 to partially fill up the tank of her Jaguar, which was "nicer than usual."

That Hawai'i's gas prices have been falling slower than Mainland prices doesn't surprise the 70-year-old Hughes.

"I think that's what we all expect in Hawai'i," she said. "We don't ever expect to be as fortunate as Mainlanders are in getting lower prices faster. I wish it were. I wish it would happen.

"I don't spend much time thinking about it because I can't control it. I try to keep myself less stressed by focusing on what I can control."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.