• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Rarefied air: Paying a pretty penny in Wellesley to pump up your tires

January 26, 2012 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

mag glass

The Swellesley Report Hard-Hitting Investigative Team has headed out in broad daylight and gotten the lowdown on how much Wellesley gas stations charge for air, that essential mix of nitrogen, oxygen, neon, argon, helium and whatever else happens to be floating around.

Most typically, gas stations in town charge 75 cents for self-service tire pumping (or whatever else you want to do with the air). This was the case at service stations along Rte. 9, such as the Shell station near Dunkin’ Donuts on Rte. 9 west…

Wellesley Shell Rte. 9 west air pump near DD

… this Gulf station on Rte. 16 east in Wellesley Hills…

Wellesley Gulf air pump rte 16 2011

… and Patriot Petroleum on Rte. 9 west.

Patriot Petroleum Rte 9 west wellesley air pump 2011

However, the Citgo station on Linden Street charges a buck for air…

Citgo Linden St. air pump 2011

… and the priciest air in town comes from the Mobil station at Kingsbury Street and Washington St., which charges $1 for air, or $1.50 if you put it on a charge or debit card (right across from Whole Foods). These businesses try to soften the blow by assuring customers that “a portion” of their air money will go toward an outfit called Feed My Starving Children.

Wellesley Mobile air pump 2011

While many in Wellesley probably just suck it up and pay for their air, you don’t have to go far out of your way to find free air. In fact, the first four stations I checked outside of Wellesley all offered free air. This included the Gulf station on Rte. 16 at the South Natick/Wellesley line  (though their gas is pricey),  the Natick Shell station on Rte. 27 near Stop’n Shop, and both Rte. 9  Hess stations in Natick.

rte 27 shell station free air natick

Shell Free Air Rte. 27 Natick

Rte 9 e hess natick free air

I’ve read that some states (at least California and Connecticut) require service stations to offer air for free, at least in part to encourage drives to fully inflate their tires, for safety reasons. Although I’m told that there is no such statute in Massachusetts (inquiries into state offices such as the Division of Standards and DMV were not acknowledged). One expert told me that some communities in Massachusetts — including Lynn — have free air mandates, but that Wellesley is not among them.

If it makes you feel any better, service stations don’t make much money on air, and there are costs associated with purchasing the machines, collecting the money and operating the devices.  Many stations offer free air as a way to entice customers to buy other services, but apparently not in Wellesley.

One tip: Some stations will turn on the air pumps for free if you ask, especially if you’re buying gas.



Your Ad Here
print
Share

Filed Under: Business

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswell[email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Thu 21

Zero Carbon Home webinar

January 21 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wed 27

Online history lecture: Petticoat Whalers

January 27 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Thu 28

January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • Bench at baseball field honors Wellesley's Harry Clark
  • "I Care a Lot" movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Pinnacle Residential Properties: the concept of home & roots
  • Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Natick’s boil water order lifted, affected Wellesley residents can drink up

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • devin on Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Bob Brown on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Juli on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Bob Brown on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Russ Barbour on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (343)
  • Business (1,357)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,880)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (884)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (38)
  • Entertainment (722)
  • Environment (666)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (386)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (737)
    • COVID-19 (134)
  • History (358)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (5)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (27)
  • Neighbors (243)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (688)
    • Crime (345)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (286)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (897)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (317)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login