NORTH COUNTY —— The pace of falling gas prices has slowed from a run to a brisk walk, according to the latest gas price survey by the Utility Consumers' Action Network.

Regular unleaded gas in North County sold Tuesday for an average of $2.283 per gallon, according to the survey of 188 North County stations. That's 5.3 cents less than the average of $2.336 on Dec. 6, which was 7.4 cents less than the previous week.

For the last several weeks, prices have been declining about a penny a day, said Charles Langley, a UCAN consumer advocate who performs the survey for the North County Times. Langley said he saw the slowing begin on Dec. 3. Tuesday's survey confirms that the decline won't be as great as he once hoped, Langley said.

"All I wanted for Christmas was my two-buck gas, and it's not going to happen," Langley said.

But on the positive side for motorists, Arco has emerged as a leader among the major brands of gasoline in lowering prices.

"They've been maintaining price cuts of about a penny a day, and that's very aggressive," he said.

Three of the six stations tied for lowest price at $2.159 a gallon are Arco, according to the survey. They are in Escondido at Nordahl and Highway 78, and North Escondido Boulevard and Washington; and in San Marcos at San Marcos Boulevard at Las Posas. (Arco charges 35 cents for debit card use and does not take credit cards.)

The other three are the All-Star in Escondido at Quince at Grand Avenue, the Costco in Poway at 12155 Tech Center Drive, and the cash-only Golden State in Poway at Community and Poway Road.

Near the coast, the lowest price of $2.219 was shared by two stations in Carlsbad: the Arco at Palomar Airport Road and Camino Vida Roble, and the members-only Costco on Palomar Airport Road at Interstate 5.

Of the diesel prices, the lowest, at $2.459 per gallon, was a cash-only station in Encinitas, the Regent on the Coast Highway at F Street. The runner-up was in Vista, a 76 on Highway 78 at Sycamore, was $2.469.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.