Winnipeg mayor calls for new, free bike registry to help curb thefts

Winnipeg cyclists could soon have a new, free registration system as part of an effort to curb bike thefts.

Mayor Scott Gillingham says he will bring forward a motion at the next executive policy committee meeting, asking the public service to study how other cities have overhauled their bike registries.

"There's too much bike theft in the city of Winnipeg and there's too much theft that goes unreported," Gillingham said after a meeting of the Winnipeg Police Board on Friday.

"And sometimes it goes unreported because individuals who have their bike stolen just maybe feel there's no hope, because it's too complicated and they don't think they'll get their bike back."

The registry would be multi-jurisdictional, to allow information to be shared across cities and regions.

"So if a bike went missing in Winnipeg, was stolen Winnipeg and showed up in Calgary, they can share this data," Gillingham said.

According to the city, about 2,000 bikes are reported stolen in Winnipeg every year. About 1,000 are recovered, but only 10 per cent of those are returned.

Charles Feaver, chair of the bike theft prevention committee with Bike Winnipeg, has had at least four bikes stolen.

"We surveyed our followers who had experienced bike theft and found that 45 per cent had registered their bikes on the city system, but less than four percent thought that the registry was helpful in recovering their bikes," he told the board on Friday.

Feaver says Vancouver dramatically reduced its bike theft by 42 per cent by assigning a dedicated detective to work with local cycling advocacy organizations.

He asked the board for a new community partnership with Winnipeg police to tackle bike theft.

One problem with the current system is that it is not publicly accessible, even to police officers.

"[Police] can look at the stolen bikes. So if you report your bike stolen then that's entered in a database that the police can see, but they can't see the Winnipeg bike registry," Feaver said in an interview.

Other cities in Canada, including Montreal and London, Ont., have used app-based registration systems like 529 Garage, which allows anyone to see if a registered bike has been reported stolen.

Gillingham cited 529 Garage as one option for the City of Winnipeg to consider.

Secure bike parking facility mulled

Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth says he's open suggestions on how to improve the system.

"The only way we're going to know it's stolen is if people have registered it, otherwise it ends up in a warehouse and gets auctioned off at the end of the year," Smyth told reporters.

Bike Winnipeg and the Downtown BIZ are also in talks to create a secure bike parking facility.

"We're still in the early stages but the hope is to find solutions for more bike infrastructure that make it easier for anyone who wants to bike downtown," Downtown BIZ CEO Kate Fenske said in an email statement.

In the meantime, Feaver recommends all cyclists invest in a sturdy U-bolt lock, and always lock up through the frame, not just the front tire.

A report on a new bike registration system for Winnipeg is expected to come to executive policy committee within about 120 days.