gas buddy -US

From my local newspaper to your wallet: Cheryl Bues, Melbourne With
gasoline prices headed out of sight, GasBuddy Organization Inc. is shaping
up as one of those bright ideas we've all heard so much about whose time,
apparently, has come.
It's an organized online effort to help motorists pay less at the pump by
letting them know where the best buys are.
The information is available at the click of a mouse.
GasBuddy. com provides a live Internet forum for volunteer spotters to
log on and enter realtime prices.
As its name implies, the Minnesota- based membership organization was
founded by two buddies, Dustin Coupal and Jason Toews.
Their shared interest in information technology and gas pricing sparked
the creation of a network of more than 170 Web sites funded entirely by
sponsors' advertising.
Toews said each dedicated site under the GasBuddy. com umbrella lists the
10 cheapest and the 10 priciest stations reported in a given area. The chain
of Web sites allows consumers to share information about low- priced fuel,
enabling cost- conscious motorists to pull into stations with the lowest
prices, he said.
At the time a practice run was conducted for

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a trip from Melbourne to Arlington, the following state- by- state highs and
lows were reported per gallon of regular unleaded fuel: Florida, $ 1 . 6 6 -
$ 1 . 9 0 ; G e o r g i a , $ 1.54-$ 1.79; South Carolina, $ 1.56-$ 1.71;
North Carolina, $ 1.59-$ 1.79; and Virginia, $ 1.54-$ 1.99.
Using www.gasbuddy.com as the guide for an imaginary 900- mile drive up
I- 95, the tank was topped off at the Gas Kwick station, Eber Road and
Babcock Street, for $ 1.73 per gallon, the lowest price posted in the
vicinity.
At the 235- mile mark, gas was being pumped for $ 1.64 at the Flying J
station in Brunswick, Ga.
Another 215 miles northward, in Sumter, S. C., it was selling for $ 1.59
at Murphy USA.
Rocky Mount, N. C., about 220 miles further on, would have been the next
logical stopping point, but GasBuddy was of little help there.
" No gas prices found," came the response. " We need your help! We rely
on volunteer gas price spotters to submit gas prices. If you know of current
gas prices in this area, please post them!" Drivers would have to gauge gas-
buying on the state figures, the extremes being $ 1.59 and $ 1.79.
The final 230- mile leg led to destination's end, Arlington.
The cheapest gas there was going for $ 1.72 at the Sunoco station, 5501
Lee Highway.
Membership in the GasBuddy Organization is free, but Toews said joining
is mandatory to become a full- fledged real- time gas price spotter.