Maybe Sen. Barack Obama was onto something after all when he told Americans to keep their tires properly inflated and thereby eliminate the need for additional offshore oil drilling. Now the University of New Mexico has hopped aboard that bandwagon and this week has been offering a new free service on campus — a mobile tire-pressure checking station.

The station has been moving around the campus daily since Monday to help keep the tires of students, staff and faculty at full pressure, said Brian Kilburn, a spokesman for the school’s Parking and Transportation Services. The station is manned and has its own air compressor. So far, Kilburn said, the staff has filled lots of under-inflated tires and handed out lots of pressure gauges.

Before lipstick got hot, tire pressure seemed to be the hot-button issue of the presidential campaign. It stemmed, as it were, from Obama’s statement in late July about the “drill here, drill now” aspect of the energy debate. The senator told an audience, “We could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling if everybody was just inflating their tires and getting regular tune-ups.”

Sen. John McCain laughed off the idea, and for weeks the news media and blogosphere resonated as partisans weighed in on pressure gauges, political stunts and pandering to special interest groups. Not surprisingly, according to at least one long and wonkish review, both sides were exaggerating.

But low tire pressure can definitely reduce fuel efficiency, said parking services Director Clovis Acosta. “Checking tire pressure is one of the easiest ways to improve fuel efficiency, be safe on the road, and protect your tires,” he said in a statement. “Being aware of ways to maximize your vehicle’s efficiency not only has economic benefits, but contributes to our community’s quality of air by reducing waste emissions.”

Acosta and the UNM parking lot folks had been discussing the idea well before Obama issued his quip, Kilburn said. “He might well have eavesdropped on us.”

This week’s tire-inflation effort is something of an experiment, Kilburn said. “We’ll see how effective it is and how it’s received.” If the station proves to be popular, it will continue; if not, it may be eliminated or held on special occasions, he said.

The station will be at UNM’s Lower M lot on Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. After that, check online at http://unm.edu/parking for additional dates and locations.