New bicycle repair station set up outside city building

As part of the city’s efforts to encourage more residents to get around town by bike, local transportation officials have installed the first of what they hope could eventually be multiple bicycle tune-up stands across Hono­lulu.

Cyclists in need of bike maintenance can use the new repair station, outside the Fasi Municipal Building’s mauka entrance, to pump up their tires, tighten gears and complete other basic repairs.

Dubbed a "Fixit" stand, the station was installed about two weeks ago and cost about $1,000, according to city Transportation Services Director Mike Formby.

It includes an air pump, screwdrivers, wrenches, a hex key and other tools — along with a platform where cyclists can hang their bicycles to do maintenance. More tech-savvy riders can also use their smartphones to scan a posted QR code and access bike repair instructions.

The station is designed to be as "low-maintenance" and "vandal/theft-proof" as possible, and DTS staff is keeping tabs on how frequently it’s used, Formby said in an email. If it proves to be popular, the department will consider installing more stations at parks and bus transit and rail stations, Formby added.

Advocates have already teamed with city and state officials in an effort to create a bike-share program in the city, where bicycles can be rented and dropped off at various stations around town, by 2015.

An August 2012 update of the city’s bike plan, prepared for the Department of Transportation Services, calls for 310 miles of additional bikeways at a cost of $68 million. The city’s transportation budget had slightly more than $1 million this year for bike projects.

However, a massive street repaving project that’s underway will drastically reduce the costs to stripe new bike lanes, officials say.

"The goal is to get everyone thinking about bicycling as a viable alternative mode of travel," Formby said Friday.