YES. especially in areas where there's not a close shop (example: downtown, strip district)
2012-02-03 09:04:41
8
Public Bicycle Pumps
Free air pumps strategically located throughout the city. Anyone else wish to see these in Pittsburgh? Would be perfect in every parking garage, on sidewalks and along bike trails. Here's a link.
http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/free-public-bicycle-pumps-installed-in-london.html
2012-02-03 04:55:43
+1 It looks like a good design that could hold up to some minor vandalism. Probably the fastest way of getting these out around the city would be to have ad-space sponsorship that businesses could put in front of there stores.
2012-02-03 14:15:53
Great idea! This could be an interesting Sprout Fund proposal.
2012-02-04 15:40:59
Bicycle Therapy in philly is right on south
street. It is a nice shop with commuter and high
end. They have a hole in the front wall that they put a compressor head out of. It is free
air. I really like it.
2012-02-04 21:01:17
Steevo, I really thought that story was going to have a better ending.
2012-02-05 20:45:29
@john, I think they have one of those in the mens room at the bus station in Philly.
2012-02-06 14:59:11
So, there is of course the pump station at Whole Foods in Shadyside (http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/bike-repair-stationair-pump-whole-foods) and this looks like an implementation of that on a large scale.
As far as other places with "public" pumps, there is a bike shop on M Street in Washington, DC, that, when I went by a year or two ago, had a floor pump lassoed to a metal gate door. I think it was set up so that it was "stored" inside the gate, off the sidewalk, but could be pulled through the bars as needed, used, and then replaced. It's been a while, but I recall thinking that (a) it would be very useful if you needed air after shop hours (presumably they would let you borrow a pump if they were open), (b) it was a very nice, public-spirited move by the bike shop, and (c) that I suspected it would be very suspect to vandalism and theft, what with a minimal cable lock securing it.
2012-02-09 01:41:06