Step 1 — Collecting Gas Price Data

We check available GasBuddy community reports and the public CBC Edmonton gas-price feed hourly. These are reported observations, not direct measurements from every pump. OpenStreetMap supplies additional station locations, not fuel prices.

Coverage includes Edmonton’s major districts and nearby towns where station data is available. A station may appear on the map without a current price report; directory coverage and current-price coverage are different measures.

When a source is unavailable, we retain the last known report rather than inventing a replacement price. A source check does not make an older report new. Cards show report times when the source supplies them, and reports over 36 hours old are labelled out of date.

Step 2 — Our Database

Station records are stored with their full address, geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), brand, and price in cents per litre. When the API returns an existing station with a new price, we update only the price and timestamp — we don't create duplicate records.

Station detail pages distinguish current reports from last known prices. A price older than the 36-hour window should not be interpreted as an offer available now. A station without a report can still provide useful address and map information.

Step 3 — Serving the Data

You can use the site in three ways:

Cheapest reported prices — compare regular gas reports and their age.
Stations near you — search by location or postal code.
Edmonton gas-price map — compare nearby options and open directions.

Distances are straight-line estimates, not driving distances. A river crossing, divided road or highway interchange can make the actual route longer. Check directions before deciding whether a detour is worth the saving.

Step 4 — The Map

The interactive map is powered by Leaflet, an open-source JavaScript mapping library, using OpenStreetMap tiles. OpenStreetMap is a community-maintained, royalty-free map dataset. No Google Maps API key or payment is required to display the map.

When stations are loaded, we place a marker pin at each station's GPS coordinates. Clicking a pin shows a small popup with the station name, current price, address, and a link to open directions in Google Maps.

If you share your location, a separate red dot marks where you are on the map, and the view automatically zooms to show the stations nearest to you.

Step 5 — Your Location

The "Nearest to Me" feature uses the browser's built-in navigator.geolocation API. This is a standard web API that asks your device's operating system for your GPS or Wi-Fi-based position. The browser shows you a permission prompt before sharing any location data.

Once you allow access, your latitude and longitude are sent to our API server to query nearby stations. We do not save them in the station database. Request URLs can appear in server or CDN access logs. The request looks like:

GET /api/stations?lat=53.55&lng=-113.49&radiusKm=10

These coordinates travel over HTTPS (encrypted) and are used only to filter the station list in memory on our server. See the privacy policy for request logging and third-party services used by the site.

If you decline location access, you can still search by an Edmonton-area postal code. Postal-code results describe a search area rather than your device’s exact position. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Price Accuracy

We display prices as reported by the source, in cents per litre. We do not claim a guaranteed accuracy margin: a price may change before another community report arrives. Compare the same grade of fuel and check any membership requirement.

Always glance at the physical pump price before you start filling up. Our "last report" timestamp identifies the observation time when available; a "last checked" time identifies our source check. Neither guarantees the pump price has stayed the same.

For more on accuracy and our data disclaimer, see the Disclaimer page.