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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.