PRINCETON, N.J. --- More than half of Americans expect gasoline prices to rise between now and the fall, according to a recent Gallup poll. The poll was taken before crude oil prices reached a record high last Wednesday ($75.40 per barrel). Only about one in four Americans believes gas prices will ever drop by 50 cents from their current level. Only a tiny minority thinks prices will ever drop by a dollar. The poll found that Republicans are more optimistic than independents or Democrats about the current situation involving gasoline prices. The poll was conducted June 26-29. The nationally representative sample involved more than a thousand adult members of Gallup's household panel. Just one in six Americans expects gasoline prices to fall between now and the fall. The vast majority expect prices to rise (54 percent) or stay about the same as now (28 percent). Fifteen percent expect prices to "increase a lot." Thirty-nine percent think prices will "increase a little." Only 6 percent of Americans express optimism that the price of a gallon of gasoline will fall by one dollar in the future.