Gillingham lays out plan to help lower bike thefts in Winnipeg

To combat theft, Mayor Scott Gillingham wants to make the city’s bike registry free and make use of technology.

A news release says as many as 2,000 bikes are reported stolen every year.

Right now there is a voluntary online registry which costs bicycle owners $7.35.

Gillingham wants a study done to make the process free as well as use technology to better track bikes once they are stolen.

The mayor says registries like 529 Garage and Bike Index in other cities have been successful.

Gillingham says this would allow police to track bikes that end up in other provinces.

He also says owners could use the app-based system to report a stolen bike immediately.

Winnipeg Police told the police board Friday many stolen bikes go unreported and when some are found there is no way to know who owns them if they are not registered.

Numbers from Winnipeg police show there 1,665 bikes stolen in 2022, which is down from 2018 and 2019 when there were 2,049 and 1,823 thefts respectively.

The news release says 1,000 bikes are recovered annually, with less than 10 per cent returned to their owners.

Gillingham says the free registry would be voluntary like the current setup because he says a mandatory one would require enforcement.

Gillingham is planning to bring forward a motion at next week’s Executive Policy Committee meeting for the public service to consult with police, Bike Winnipeg, and the WRENCH on the plan.