Time to curb bike theft in Winnipeg, student says

Winnipeg has a bike theft problem. It's time we talked about it.

It was a foolish moment. Usually, I'm inclined to carry it up three flights of stairs. But last Monday, I locked the wheel and frame of my bike outside my apartment, next to a collection of other bicycles.

When I came down on Tuesday morning, it was gone, a victim of some well-crafted cutting gear and the worst of intentions.

I take pride in my cycling and use my bike as my primary mode of transportation around this city. A few weeks after putting a couple of hundred dollars into the bike to fix up some long standing issues, it was gone.

I quickly posted a picture of my bike on social media, which popped up alongside similar posts from friends and colleagues of mine who have also had their bikes stolen recently. Clearly, this is a growing problem in Winnipeg.

As we've seen reported by CBC Manitoba, bike theft is up in Winnipeg, with a recent report detailing the most prominent locations and likely times that your ride will be stolen.

• 'It's rampant': Bike theft in Winnipeg soars 109% since 2014
• Winnipeg's bike theft hot spots revealed

While disheartening, these statistics are nothing new and as cycling continues to become a more popular option in Winnipeg, across all seasons, we're likely to see the number of these thefts continue to rise.

After realizing that my bike was stolen, I placed a call into the Winnipeg Police Service to report it as missing in order to kindle any small chance it could be found. Speaking with a representative from the police, I quickly got the impression that this wasn't going to be a priority for them.

I even had to prompt the member handling the call to take down the make, colour and visual description of the bike 10 minutes into our conversation.

I don't blame the police for not prioritizing bike recovery. After all, even this self-aggrandizing cyclist recognizes that the resources of the police force are already stretched thin dealing with the growing and fatal opioid crisis, or dealing with other issues of real public safety.

I don't expect them to drop the important work on their hands to chase after my single-speed.

Does that mean that we should be any less vigilant in working together to prevent theft of this nature? Absolutely not.

I would argue that while the problem grows, solutions to solve this growing issue are very attainable.

Bike registration, GPS chips

For one, Manitoba Public Insurance could add bicycle registration programs, perhaps of an opt-in nature, to help with the financial burden of a stolen bike through a premium program.

Years ago, when auto theft was a much more serious issue in Manitoba, MPI worked to provide tools, such as immobilizers, to discourage the practice.

With cycling on the rise, why not explore options of this nature?

Alternatively, why not provide an incentive through the police service to install GPS chips on bikes in Winnipeg in order to quickly recover them and to incentivize registration?

These programs are becoming commonplace in the UK, and the GPS retails for around $100 *(UK), which allows the local authorities to track down missing bikes.

For me, I'll be able to scrape a few dollars together and purchase a used bike for the winter to get around. But for low income Manitobans who don't have that option and rely on bikes to get around to important appointments or jobs, bicycle theft can be a major impediment to their ability to get around the city.

The benefits of cycling are clear: it's environmentally friendly, cost-effective and encourages an active lifestyle. It goes without saying that our governments should be encouraging cycling year-round and we're seeing that, with an increased focus on active transportation as part of the 2016 City of Winnipeg budget.

• Winnipeg budget: Major projects delayed to keep taxes down

But until we can take serious steps to proactively address bike theft in Winnipeg, we're going to continue to be stopped in our tracks over and over again.

Zach Fleisher is a student at the University of Manitoba, a former chairperson for the Canadian Federation of Students-Manitoba and a candidate for the New Democrats in the previous provincial election.