By Gary Richards, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Mar. 28--Gas use, down slightly. Transit ridership, up noticeably. Gas tax receipts, way up. And the price at the pump, way up. Hey, three of four isn't bad.

By Gary Richards, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Mar. 17--Q Prices are outrageous for diesel fuel. I cannot believe that it has passed the $4 a gallon mark. I commute 220 miles a day from Los Banos to Palo Alto and my wife drives 160 to Fresno, driving around 9,600 miles a month.

By Gary Richards, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Mar. 4--From San Francisco to San Jose to San Luis Obispo to San Diego, single-day gas price records tumbled across the state again today -- and the nation appears next.

By Gary Richards, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Mar. 1--Q It was sad to read about the Danville man who died trying to help a motorist on the Bay Bridge this week who had a flat tire. People have the misconception that you must stop immediately when a tire goes flat.

By Gary Richards, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Jan. 15--It was the first morning of Santa Clara County's most extensive transit overhaul in three decades, and VTA General Manager Michael Burns was already thinking about next year.