Data Arcade

Motor Fuel Underground

A static browser prototype that turns state motor-fuel tax rates into a noisy arcade stage of Gasoline, Diesel, rankings, trend lines, and local what-if shocks.

By Eric Rhea GameLab prototype Status: Playable static app

The app uses a local copy of a public Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset. The What If scenarios are interaction stress tests, not forecasts or policy advice.

Motor Fuel Underground main screen with arcade controls, TV console, fuel tax rankings, and a trend panel

High-Level Overview

Motor Fuel Underground is a GameLab experiment in making fuel taxes feel inspectable without flattening them into a conventional table. It loads a static CSV of motor-fuel tax rates, lets visitors switch between Gasoline and Diesel, and turns each selected year into a ranked, animated data stage.

The prototype leans into a late-night TV and arcade treatment because the underlying story is about public infrastructure, price pressure, and policy noise. The serious layer is the source-backed data model. The playful layer is the room visitors use to compare jurisdictions and notice changes across time.

What the Prototype Lets You Do

  • Launch a static browser app backed by the local tax_rates_by_motor_fuel_and_state.csv file.
  • Switch between Gasoline and Diesel rates, then choose any year in the 2015-2026 source range.
  • Flip the ranking between high and low rates to compare state and territory edges.
  • Select a jurisdiction and inspect its trend line across the available years.
  • Turn on What If scenarios such as Hurricane, Refinery, Supply, and Holiday to stress-test how the display reacts to simulated local pressure.

Source Backbone

The overview, app credits, and local source note all point back to the same source package so the data lineage is visible before anyone opens the prototype.

Local file tax_rates_by_motor_fuel_and_state.csv, retrieved 2026-07-01, 372,732 bytes, with 1,368 data rows and 10 columns.
Publisher Bureau of Transportation Statistics, listed through Data.gov and distributed through the data.transportation.gov API.
Integrity SHA-256: 96425f1c28d82131ddbc0577fea3fe65a9043d2c87eef410a9a1d9fc17af444b.

Build Detail

The playable app is pure static HTML, CSS, JavaScript modules, local Three.js, generated project art, and the local CSV. It does not need a backend. The ranking, trend, ticker, TV channel, and scenario layers all derive from the same parsed records so the visual treatment stays tied to source data.

Related builds

Transporter TSI Riot explores a broader transportation index dataset. Micromobility Riot Map turns city-year mobility records into a map, zine, and Fleet Maze. MMS4 Ephemeris Lens is another source-backed data exhibit.