Ian Kennedy, executive director of the Arts and Culture Council of Columbia, Maryland, is an avid cyclist with multiple bikes. One of his favorite activities is mountain biking with his daughter, who has inherited his love for the sport.

One morning this fall, after a ride, the two loaded their bikes into a van and parked it on the street in front of their home. Unfortunately, Kennedy forgot to lock the van door. Later that evening, the rear door was found ajar, and the bikes were gone. The Kennedys thus became a statistic in a rapidly growing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic: bicycle theft.

As Americans increasingly turn to alternative commuting and travel options during the health crisis, bicycle sales in the U.S. have surged, with April sales alone up 75% compared to the same period in 2019surged 75%. Theft rates have also risen, with thefts increasing 68% between March and September, according to Bryan Hance, co-founder of the registration organization Bike Indexincreased by 68%。

In an era of tight city budgets, prioritizing bicycle theft can be challenging. Faced with larger issues and crimes, city managers and relevant departments often lack the manpower and funds to focus on what is seen as a very low-level, low-value crime.

But this contradicts the money and effort many cities have invested in creating bike-friendly areas. If residents cannot trust that they can safely park their bikes—or recover them after theft—they may be less willing to use thebike lanesandgreenways。

that cities have spent heavily to build. Efforts to combat bike theft can start with a dedicated officer who spends a few hours a week on such cases. In some cases, police departments form task forces to address the issue. When equipped with the right tools and determination, some departments are achieving results.

"Arrests alone won't solve the problem"

Stealing a bike is often extremely easy and is frequently a crime of opportunity. "The bad guys are more organized than the good guys," says J. Allard, founder of the bicycle registration and theft reporting toolProject 529. "Thieves know there are many factors in their favor."

One of those advantages is that, according to Officer Dave Sanders of the Portland, Oregon, Central Precinct bike unit, on average only one in ten bike owners reports a stolen bike. Bike theft also provides a quick and easy means of escape, making it a secondary crime in many cases.

"A week later I actually saw someone riding my daughter's bike," Kennedy said of his experience. "I talked to him, and he ran off. I couldn't do anything."

According to Allard, this black market itself is growing into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Thieves often turn to sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace to sell stolen goods, and owners often have no concrete way to prove ownership other than comparing serial numbers—if they even have a record of that number. Other issues include poorly designed bike locks, or users locking their bikes incorrectly—for example, only locking the wheel without securing the bike to a solid object like a lamppost.

Portland is especially "known" for bike theft. Sanders says a conservative estimate is that 2,500 bikes are stolen each year, but the actual number may be higher because only a quarter of people report it to the police. To address this widespread problem, the Portland Police Bureau established atask force。

in 2015. "There's no dedicated funding or positions, but it's a branch within the department, and about six of us are actively involved," Sanders said. "We all have other duties, but we wear multiple hats."

He went on to emphasize the importance of measures like community education and engagement to make anti-theft efforts a collaborative endeavor. "We initially focused on cracking down on offenders, but arrests alone won't solve the problem," Sanders said.

Registration

The Portland Police Bureau task force has continuously adjusted its approach to bike theft over the past five years, focusing much of its attention on bike registration, which Sanders calls crucial. Every bike has its unique serial number—similar to a vehicle's VIN—but most owners are unaware of it. "It's a piece of the puzzle that must be in place to change the problem," he said. "It's the long-term solution to solving the problem."

While Kennedy has registered his serial number and hopes the local department's system will catch it, he has not yet completed registration for his daughter's bike. "Local police have access to a statewide database, so I at least have a chance to find my bike at a pawn shop or on a website," he said. "But in the end, we had no luck."

The department also partners with Allard's Project 529, which works with law enforcement, bike shops, cycling advocacy groups, and citizens. After purchasing a bike, owners can register their serial number in the system, along with photos. "If your bike is stolen, you open the app, and the information automatically goes out to police and social media, broadcasting to a radius of six to nine miles," Allard explained.

Officer Rob Brunt of the Vancouver Police Department in British Columbia, Canada, is also a supporter of bike registration and works with 529. "Six years ago, I was assigned to the property office after a car accident," he said. "There I saw how many stolen bikes the department was holding."

Brunt was surprised to see a sophisticated conveyor belt system—which the city spent over $750,000 on—managing a warehouse of nearly 1,000 bikes. Like many cities, Vancouver sells these bikes at auction, and Brunt estimates about $1 million a year in proceeds goes back into the city budget. "I'm a cyclist myself, and I saw an extremely rare and expensive bike there," he said. "I decided I needed to help solve this problem."

Using 529, Brunt and his team helped register 1,300 bikes in the first five days of operation. "The average cost of a recovered bike is about $700, and we know that for every 10 people whose bikes are stolen, two give up cycling and stop riding," he said. "If a city allocates $7,000 a year for a registration program like 529, that would be a huge savings."

Breaking down barriers

The Milwaukee Police Department created theMilwaukee Bike Theft Prevention Initiative(MKEBTR) in 2018, taking a multi-pronged approach to bike theft.MKEBTR's dedicatedwebsite educates residents on how to properly lock bikes, register them, and report thefts.

Before the pandemic, Captain Timothy Letske enjoyed going into the community to discuss these three pillars face-to-face with residents. "Ensuring that outreach efforts fairly cover all neighborhoods is crucial," he noted. "In low-income areas, bikes are just as important as they are in areas typically used for recreation."

Letske said the program was making progress until 2020 arrived, "but the pandemic slowed us down quite a bit."

Services likeBikeLinkoffer low-cost, secure bike storage that can serve as a good resource for cities addressing theft during the pandemic. Jack Masler, BikeLink's public-private relations manager, said the company manages sites in 95 jurisdictions, with San Francisco's BART system being one of its first partners.

"We have 39 sites there," Masler said of the BART system. "Our data shows that using our lockers is 25,000 to 1 safer than parking on the street." While about 75% of BikeLink users are "first mile/last mile" commuters, Masler said BikeLink services can be an important resource for overall bike usage in cities.

Letske remains determined to gradually reverse the theft trend but also acknowledges setbacks. "Bike theft can be an underappreciated problem," he said. "Old mindsets often pose barriers. But if you catch the bad guys, lock your bike properly, report, and register, it can go a long way."

Whether bike usage will continue to grow after the pandemic is anyone's guess, but for cities looking to make the most of bike-friendly infrastructure, investing time and money in theft prevention is a value proposition. "Bike theft is perhaps the easiest problem to solve in a community," Sanders said. "It deserves a higher priority."