"The real dig is that they will want to give the checks to commuters in big cities where mass transit funded in large part by the rest of the "flyover" states makes driving a car rare."
Your point? They're doing their part to conserve gas. Are you?
If you don't live in a city that has mass transit that becomes a lot harder. And yes, I carpool where I can and cut back on my trips as much as possible. I also live only 2 miles from my work and drive a reasonably fuel efficient car. When you live in a largely rural state driving is essential to conduct business and get to work. City busses are down to minimal routes, if they exist at all. The largest part of the driving public lives in areas where adequate mass transit has never existed or faded away long ago. There have been pushes to get some of those bucks to rebuild bus systems and build a mass transit system that would adequately serve the population, but that money is always funneled to the large cities on the coasts who have already built up the systems over many years.