With more than 2,300 bicycles reported stolen in the city last year, the Vancouver Police Department is working with a Portland company to create an online bicycle registry in an effort to catch thieves and return two-wheelers to their owners.
Though police say they are reluctant to discuss details of the registry until an anticipated launch in the fall, a business plan submitted to the Vancouver Police Board last month indicates a partnership with Project 529, a bike security software startup led by Xbox co-founder J Allard.
“An opportunity was explored to partner with an existing bicycle registry program referred to as Project 529, as opposed to creating a new and local one,” the plan said. “This partnership opportunity provides a better solution, and work continues in this area.”
The Portland company — whose name is a play on words of nine-to-five — has already created a dedicated VPD page on its website that will go live with the launch of the registry. It will be linked to the police department’s existing website and coupled with an app, which works like a panic button to notify other Project 529 members and police departments of a bike theft.
The purpose of the registry is to have a cyclist register his or her bicycle, log the bike’s serial number, provide photographs and any other details that would help identify the bike, if it were stolen. The information will be helpful for a cyclist when making a police report and insurance claim.
The Courier contacted Allard via email, but he said he couldn’t discuss details of “any potential unannounced partnerships. So, for the time being, any questions specifically addressing any partnership with Vancouver is off the table for discussion right now.” But Allard added that his company has learned a lot over the last two years about “this epidemic” of bike theft.
“Today, the bad guys are more organized and are using technology more effectively than the good guys and we’re committed to help communities reverse that trend,” he said.
Bike thefts in Vancouver continue to increase, with 2,347 bicycles reported stolen last year. That’s a dramatic increase from 1,178 in 2008. The statistics do not include bike thefts that owners couldn’t be bothered to report, possibly because they didn’t record the serial number, or the cost of their insurance deductible payment was more than the bike was worth.
Cyclist Chris Motion had his red SE Lager “fixie” bike stolen on the afternoon of July 18 after leaving it locked up outside Phoenix Gymnastics, next to Hillcrest Community Centre. The thief cut the cable lock to take his $600 bike and helmet.
“I was frustrated with it, my six-year-old burst into tears because my bike had just been stolen,” said Motion, who had four bikes stolen about a year ago after a break-in to his garage. He recovered one of the bikes by chance after his wife noticed it at a pawn shop on Main Street.
After the most recent theft, Motion phoned police and gave them details of what happened, a description of his bike and the serial number. He also posted details on Craigslist and, as of Wednesday, had not recovered his two-wheeler.
“It doesn’t make sense on the insurance,” he said, when asked whether his insurance deductible was worth him replacing the bike. “I went through that when I had the other ones stolen and it didn’t work for me. For high-end bikes, you pay a lot for the coverage and still have the deductible.”
Motion said he would use a registry.
“Anything that makes it tougher to fence it and have more eyes potentially looking for something, the better,” he said.
The increase in bike thefts comes as the city is reporting record numbers of bike trips in June, with the most — 198,000 — recorded across the Burrard Bridge. That’s up from 148,000 trips in June 2014. Other notable increases in trips were recorded at Science World (146,000), Union and Hawks (103,000) and the Dunsmuir viaduct (60,000).
While Colin Stein, director of marketing and communications for the HUB cycling advocacy organization, is encouraged by the increases in ridership, he said cyclists need more adequate and safe parking areas and facilities to avoid getting their bikes stolen. Cyclists also have to educate themselves on how to avoid their bikes becoming an easy target for thieves, said Stein, adding that a video on HUB’s website gives cyclists helpful tips on how to lessen the chance of a theft.
Stein said he is aware of the partnership between the VPD and Project529 and hopes the registry will be successful and cause other Metro Vancouver municipalities to get on board. Bike theft is a regional problem, he said, noting HUB has worked with the City of Surrey to educate cyclists about how not to get their bikes stolen.
“You have people travelling between cities, so it’s really a regional problem that would be far more effective and efficient if we could have a common solution,” said Stein, who acknowledged a registry needs to be promoted well for it to work. “It needs a certain level of participation for it to be effective in this world of social media and mobile applications.”
@Howellings
