By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

city council

City of Red Deer to join ‘529 Garage’ in fight against bike thefts

Apr 15, 2019 | 6:30 PM

The City of Red Deer is wheeling ahead with a voluntary bike registry, rather than a mandatory one.

Last September, Councillor Buck Buchanan proposed as much, citing a desire to curb the growing frequency of bicycle thefts in the city.

He withdrew his notice of motion at Monday’s meeting in favour of a more preferred option presented by administration.

For a fee of $2000, The City will sign on with ‘529 Garage,’ a project spawned in 2004 based out of Seattle and Vancouver. If, after a year, The City isn’t satisfied with results, it can get its money back.

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“In other places when they’ve tried to do mandatory registration, it becomes so labour-intensive and onerous to try and figure it out. This new system that’s out, hopefully it gets good uptake here,” says Buchanan.

“I’m not sure how it works when all of a sudden your bike goes into the wind, and it gets spray-painted, parts and pieces get zipped off, but at least it’s a start. Plus, you feel for the people that are losing them, so if there’s a solution, let’s try and find it.”

Buchanan adds that some bicycles are of extremely high value, making the issue even more troublesome.

Paul Goranson, Director of Protective Services, says while individuals can register bikes on 529 Garage, the advantage of a municipality signing on and promoting it is that the not-for-profit will work with local bike shops, clubs and schools.

“This is a community-based tool where you’re using a social media platform to monitor bike thefts and help promote when your bike gets stolen to other bike users in the community,” he explains.

“Once you’re registered, and your bike happens to get stolen, then anyone locally who’s also a part of it, a notice will come up on their phone with the details. So this enables better communication, it uses technology people are comfortable with, and it uses existing channels so that it doesn’t become a big administrative burden for The City to look after.”

Goranson says The City doesn’t currently have any targets it hopes to meet, but notes that it has been successful elsewhere.

According to a November 2017 report by Global News, bike thefts went down by 30 per cent in Vancouver since its launch two years earlier. Another report by the Vancouver Courier noted bike thefts dropped by more than 70 per cent in Vancouver’s Granville Island area over that same span.

According to Project529.com, the company hopes to cut bike theft across North America in half by 2025.