By: Charles Bowen GasPriceWatch.com Helps With Travel Stories
As we enter the summer travel season, it's natural to be
concerned about gasoline prices. We'll be looking for stories
that compare our local gas prices with those in neighboring
cities and states and across the nation. And we'll be trying to
help our readers find the best bargains for gas.
Just in time, a major consumer Web site has jumped into the ring
to help us. Gas Price Watch lets you monitor current gasoline
prices locally and nationally. Simply enter a ZIP code and you
can search prices within a designated radius of miles.
You also can sort your findings by price for each type of fuel
(regular to premium and diesel) as well as by location. And keep
the site bookmarked because the site also tracks heating oil
prices across the continent.
To use the resource, visit the site at http://www.GasPriceWatch.com,
where the introductory page is topped with graphics
illustrating the highest, lowest, and average gasoline and
heating oil prices in the U.S. and Canada, along with the
locations of the towns with the highest and lowest figures.
Operators of the site say they have learned that gas prices in
the same town can vary as much as 20 cents a gallon. In fact,
sometimes even the same fuel company will charge different prices
in different parts of a town, apparently in order to remain
competitive in a specific neighborhood.
To search for U.S. gasoline prices in a specific area, click the
U.S. Gas link on the left column of the site and, from the
resulting menu, select "ZIP Search." The site then opens a screen
on which you can enter a ZIP code and, optionally, a radius of 1
to 20 miles. Click the Submit button and Gas Price Watch lists
the lowest gas prices it has on record for that region, the name
and address of the station and the date of the most recent update
on the price. (The price quotes in the list are color-colored,
ranging from less than 48 hours to greater than 96 hours old. You
also can pass your mouse over a tiny clock icon to see the actual
date of the latest update of the information.)
An Advanced Search option reached from the same drop-down menu
enables you to search for prices by specific gas stations or on
specific streets in a city. The site also is a hotbed of consumer
commentary on gas prices, business, and politics. To sample the
mood of the motoring public across the nation, click the
"Sounding Board" link on the left column of any site page. This
takes you to the feature's message board area, where you can read
what other Web visitors have to say.
Other considerations for using Gas Price Watch in your reporting
and editing:
o Data in the site is provided primarily by volunteers. The site
currently has some 22,000 volunteer "price spotters" across the
country, feeding in data on gas prices at more than 630,000 local
stations. Incidentally, if you write about the site in your local
news columns, you might want to point out that it is free to sign
up as a spotter.
o If you're working on other gas and energy-related stories,
check out the site's Links section, where you can find Web
resources about topics such as gas taxes, fuel economy, and gas
mileage, and headlines on the latest gasoline news and consumer-
oriented services.
o For more details on using Gas Price Watch, click the Help link
in the left column of any of its pages. From the resulting menu,
select answers to frequently asked questions, help with e-mail,
and information on navigating the site.
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Bowen writes columns, articles and books from West Virginia, and is host of the daily Internet News syndicated radio show (http://www.netnewstoday.com).
charlesbowen@compuserve.com
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher
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