Drivers Cruise Internet for Gas Price Relief
By Chris Baltimore
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American motorists facing record-high pump prices are cruising new Internet sites created to help steer them to the cheapest gasoline in town.
Web sites like www.GasBuddy.com and www.Gaspricewatch.com give consumers a free, up-to-the-minute way to track prices at retail outlets that line the nation's highways.
The sites have enlisted an army of volunteer "spotters" who scout and contribute prices collected as they commute to work or duck out for lunch.
"Now I know how to beat the system after observing how these gas stations operate," said Mike Wolf, 49, an experienced spotter on GasBuddy's Twin Cities Web site, where he goes by the name "wolfer."
For drivers of gas-guzzling SUVs, a nickel price difference translates to $1 in savings, based on a 20-gallon tank.
The average retail price of regular gasoline hit an all-time high of $1.84 per gallon on May 5, according to the AAA driving club, which surveys 60,000 stations each week.
Prices are likely to march higher this summer, due to rising crude oil prices and concerns about Middle East supplies, according to experts.
Gasoline prices vary widely across the United States, reflecting different state taxes and metropolitan air pollution requirements. Motorists in other industrialized countries generally pay much higher fuel prices.
Entrepreneur Brad Proctor founded Gaspricewatch in 2000 as a way for his friends to get a grip on gas costs.
Last Friday, the Web site gave prices at 127,959 U.S. gas stations across the United States. The prices were supplied by 85,819 volunteer spotters. The spotters are rewarded for their efforts by accumulating points for each price they submit, giving point-leaders Internet bragging rights.
"Our whole goal is really to just point people to the cheapest price of gasoline in their neighborhoods," said Proctor, 46.
Owners and operators of some gasoline stations see such Web sites as bad news, saying they must follow "zonal-pricing" rules set by the major oil companies that supply them.
"It's patently unfair to many of our members," said Paul Fiore, executive vice president of the Service Station Dealers of America and Allied Trades, which represents roughly 20,000 such gas station owners.
"Zonal pricing limits a dealer's control of prices on the street," Fiore said.
For spotters, scrutinizing retail gas prices is a part of their daily routine.
On a recent 30-mile trip from his office in Dayton, Ohio, to a McDonald's in Hamilton, Proctor collected prices at 27 stations.
GasBuddy, which tracks prices in 174 areas, has seen reader hits on its site triple since February, said Jason Toews, a 29-year-old computer programer in Brooklyn Park, Minn. He runs the site on a shoestring budget.
"A lot of the people take a personal stake in the matter because they're upset about the high gas prices," Toews said.
Wolf, music director at two Minneapolis-area radio stations, said he saved about $2.50 by filling up his 1998 Ford Taurus at a local Gas N Splash after seeing a SuperAmerica station raise its price nearly 20 cents. "Usually they're the first ones to go up," Wolf said.
Access to the Web sites is free, but price-reporters must register. The sites' meager budgets are paid for by banner advertisements.
Compensation is scant. GasBuddy gave away four $100 prepaid gasoline cards in a points contest in February, and another contest starts on May 16.
