Gas Prices

This AM New York cartoon, currently making the rounds on e-mail, was surely a ridiculous exaggeration when first published in 2004. But it's not as far off the mark today. As the Times reports, Florida is the latest state to start giving away free "gas for life" as a lottery prize. And though the jackpot, in reality, is $2,600 in prepaid gas cards every year until the winner's death, some Floridians say they would prefer that prize to the game's $250,000 cash payout, regardless of which would actually be more valuable.

It's the New Math: a dollar-a-trip rise in the cost of fuel for a car trip to Manhattan is cutting traffic almost as much as Mayor Bloomberg's eight-dollar toll plan would have done.

Ruben Bolling

Not exactly Errol Morris, we know, but the sentiment is there.

Given the New Jersey Nets' lackluster season (34-48 record, no playoff berth), the franchise is taking a page from another under-performer to unload tickets for next year. That's right: buy 2008-2009 season tickets and the Nets will return 10 percent of the cost in the form of "free" gas, which fans will presumably burn up on the way to all those home games. 'Cause with the Nets, it's not about winning or losing, or even how you play. It's about the free gas.

Robert Ariail / The State

It's easy to tut-tut at the auto-dependent from the transit-rich confines of New York City. So, to get a taste of what it's like out there as the era of cheap gas seemingly draws to a close, Streetsblog sent me on a road trip. My destination was Athens, Georgia, where I checked on the state of bike-ped infrastructure in what could be a model small city for the future of American mobility. I'll be filing more Athens reports soon. In the meantime, here are some quick hits from the road.

Transportation Alternatives is looking for a few good sources to help handle all the media requests coming their way these days. Here's how Streetsbloggers can lend a hand: