Are you looking for petrol or diesel service stations to refuel? Use the Government’s interactive map to find stocked outlets and compare prices near you!
As last fall, fuel shortages are looming in France at the end of March 2023. Due to strikes and refinery blockades, more and more service stations are running out of gasoline and diesel, and, in some regions – The South, West and Ile-de-France – it becomes difficult to refuel. A situation which is not yet alarming, but which is starting to become critical: and as the fear of shortages creates shortages, some motorists anticipate their needs, by generating long queues in stations that are still supplied and by emptying the tanks…
Fortunately, there are solutions to find operational pumps. We are of course thinking of the various applications that make it possible to compare the prices of stations in a specific area (see our selection), in particular the famous government site Fuel prices, well known to motorists looking for the best prices: useful and practical tools on a daily basis, even outside of crisis periods – especially with the price increases over the past year… To complete these permanent systems, the Government had also put online a new website in October 2022, presenting an “interactive” map allowing you to compare fuel prices in France, but also, and above all, to find stations supplied. If it quickly lost interest, as soon as the situation returned to normal, it is still active and up to date, even though it is officially in beta! And it remains an excellent way to find out where to find fuel without having to go around the stations.
In order to provide reliable information, with up-to-date prices and supplies, the Government’s data.gouv.fr service relies on several data sources, such as Covid monitoring. Based on the principle of open data – “free” data, accessible to everyone free of charge – it uses resources fromEtalabthe department of the interministerial digital directorate (DINUM) in charge of the management of public data, the geographical information ofOpenMapTiles, the international organization that provides maps, and contributions from OpenStreetMap, a participatory site. And to have more reliable information, both for prices and for the actual availability of fuels, data.gouv calls on all consumers who wish to participate in updating the map to share their information and readings with the community. “Have you also used data on fuel prices? Share your work with the community to help inform as many people as possible!”can we read on the Twitter account of the service.
Like the Land Value Data (DVF) application, this tool illustrates the potential of data for steering public policies, service to users and informing the public.
What other open data exploration or visualization would you like to see?
— data.gouv.fr (@datagouvfr) October 27, 2022
data.gouv.fr: a participatory map of fuel prices
Concretely, the data.gouv website gives access to several data. First of all, the interactive map reports fuel prices in real time in France. A color code has been put in place: in green, fuel costs between 0 and 1.57 euros per liter, in yellow, you can find it for 1.57 to 1.66 euros per litre, and in orange, the price is higher than 1.66 euro per litre. Feel free to “play” with your mouse wheel to zoom in on the area where you expect to find fuel. On the left of the map, other functions are offered. Thus, you can customize the price card, according to your desires and needs. Thus the Select a fuel filter provides access to a drop-down menu to choose the desired fuel: Unleaded 95 (E10), Unleaded 95, Unleaded 98, Diesel, LPG-C and superethanol (E85). In addition to this filtering, an option allows you to reveal on the map the stations out of unleaded 95 (E10). Another function is offered to you. You can follow the evolution of the average prices of unleaded 95 (E10) in France. And to avoid unpleasant surprises at the pump, remember to check the date and time of publication!
