City launches online bike registry

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This article was published 23/04/2018 (2695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg has launched a new online registry that should increase the likelihood of lost bicycles being returned to their owners.

Bike owners in the city could already register their bicycles by mail, but now the city has added an online option. All bike registrations made using the mail service have been transferred to the online database, according to a press release.

“(The online bike registry) is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Marcia Fifer, Winnipeg’s business licensing co-ordinator, said at Monday’s launch.

There is a one-time fee of $6.60 (GST included) when someone first registers. Users can upload photos of their bikes and several can be registered to one household. No payment is required for the return of a bike.

Fifer told reporters that the registry cost the city a couple of thousand dollars to create.

The registry went online at 9 a.m. Monday.

The city recovers an estimated 1,000 bikes each year, but less than 10 per cent are returned to their owners, according to the city.

More than 2,800 bikes were reported stolen in 2017, but Winnipeg police — partners in the new online initiative — suspect that number to be low because of thefts that aren’t reported, said Insp. Chody Sutherland, who noted police often find bikes before they’re reported stolen.

“We may recover the bike overnight, while it’s being used in another offence, or it’s been abandoned after it’s been stolen before homeowners may notice the bike is actually even missing,” she said.

Officers all have access to an app in their cruiser cars that grants them access to the online registry anytime.

“If you’re listed on the registry in advance, we can return the bike almost immediately,” Sutherland said, adding if police can’t find the owner, the bike will be put in storage.

Bicycles in storage that go unclaimed are auctioned off by the city. The Winnipeg Repair Education and Cycling Hub (WRENCH), a non-profit organization that builds, repairs and makes bikes accessible to youth, is partnering with the city to ensure the bikes are ready to ride.

This year’s auction is Saturday and Sunday morning at the Terry Sawchuk Arena on Kimberly Avenue.

There will be about 700 bikes available for the public to bid on. Police hope the online registry will mean fewer bikes are auctioned in the future, Sutherland said.

People should continue reporting thefts since being on the registry isn’t enough and reporting thefts helps the police see patterns and come up with strategies, Sutherland said.

Bikes can be registered online at winnipeg.ca/bikeregistry. Lost or stolen bikes can be reported to the police through its non emergency line or online through the citizen online reporting system.

nicholas.frew@freepress.mb.ca