Your gas tax dollars are at work. Gov. Ed Rendell and PennDOT are spending them to launch a new Web site, www.rideonpa.org, the latest escalation in the political war over funding roads, bridges and transit.

Right on!

A news release proclaims the Web site's purpose is to "keep Pennsylvanians informed about solving the state's transportation funding crisis."

Rideonpa.org gives "a comprehensive view of the condition of the state's 40,000 miles of roads and bridges and the severe funding shortfall that threatens the economic stability of local regions that would result from significant public transit cuts."

Interactive features are to be added so you can see for yourself which roads and bridges are in need of repair in your area, as if you don't already know.

Also in coming weeks, rideonpa.org promises to provide an "ongoing financial analysis of options to determine how best to get the utmost value for taxpayers and the driving public."

It comes as no surprise that options listed do not include the "Getting Around Plan" outlined in this column last Sunday.

GAP called for creating an "interstate highway authority" and imposing border tolls, but no new or higher state user taxes.

Nevertheless, I signed up for propaganda updates via e-mail.

I received an instant response:

"Thank you for registering with rideonpa.org. Governor Rendell is committed to finding a solution to the transportation funding crisis that has the least affect on tax payers and the driving public. Please check back frequently as new information will be added as this issue continues (sic) unfolds."

I can't wait.

Bits 'n pieces. About 100 Port Authority employees who retired in 2006 will be honored Tuesday at the agency's 28th annual retirement banquet at the Priory on the North Side. The party won't be at the expense of riders.

Honorees are paying $30 apiece. If they want to toast each other, it'll be at a cash bar.

Warmer weather prompted the United Spinal Association to issue a motorcycle safety reminder in view of the increased number of bikers. Highway Traffic Safety Administration records show 3,661 motorcyclists died and 67,000 others were injured nationally in 2003.

Off-board fare collectors who staff the major stations on the Port Authority trolley system account for 31 percent of the overtime charged to the light-rail division. None of them are included in the layoffs of up to 267 employees by July 1.

Dr. Thomas Larson, who died in December 2006, was the PennDOT boss who led the agency out of political corruption (1979-1987) and the federal highway administrator who was instrumental in 1991 in creating the program that continues to govern federal transportation spending today. He is being memorialized by creation of a special endowment at Penn State University where he cofounded the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute. Info at 814-863-3848.

The Port Authority is now saying it will need 75 fewer full-size buses to operate service after a 15-percent cut in operating hours and the elimination of 29 routes effective June 17. What happens to them? Twenty of the oldest buses will be "retired," or sold, spokesman Bob Grove said. The others are targeted to become "spares" used when buses are taken out of service for maintenance, inspection or repair.

What's wrong? Because Allegheny County was unable to provide local matching funds, its health department has lost out on more than half of a $2 million federal grant for air quality programs.

And because the county was unable to provide local matching funds, the Port Authority lost out on $585,586 in state money for its fiscal year that ends June 30.

Pitt Ohio Express employees, family and friends participating in the recent "Great Pennsylvania Cleanup" as part of a national effort filled six dump trucks with litter and trash in the Strip District neighborhood where the trucking firm is headquartered. That's good, I think.

Believe it. The Port Authority saved about $60,000 in February alone by locking in the price of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel at $1.91 a gallon for five months.

Elsewhere. Ontario officials are spending an extra $1.8 billion to expand highways in the northern part of the province to encourage tourism and economic growth.

Plate du jour. Lou Conley, of Sewickley, spotted the Pennsylvania personalized license plate HAPY CAR on a Cooper Mini in the North Hills.

"I don't know about the car, but it made me happy seeing the plate," he wrote.