51.   AAA cited low gas prices as well as lingering air security concerns for the shift toward driving.

52.   British Gas said losses could deteriorate in the fourth quarter, unless the weather gets colder and gas prices rise.

53.   Bush accused his Democratic counterpart of supporting higher gas prices in the past as a way to curb oil usage.

54.   Bush, meanwhile, is getting an assist from a group called Americans for Job Security, which blames Gore for higher gas prices.

55.   But a slew of factors including rising gas prices, a tumbling stock market and a new administration clearly worried about a recession, combined to chill customer appetites.

56.   But a few who have made the change to public transportation say that the gas price increases have profoundly altered how they live.

57.   But although the increase represents one of the steepest short-term surges since the Persian Gulf war, gas prices remain extremely low by historical standards.

58.   But a big jump in gas prices and the resulting ripple effect on the national economy could have a much more dramatic impact in the general election.

59.   But David Littmann, corporate economist for Comerica bank in Detroit, predicts that gas prices will bite into auto sales this year.

60.   But factors such as continued improvements in worker productivity so far are mitigating the effect that gas prices are having on the economy.