The wheels are in motion to introduce a new motorcycle registry in Winnipeg, as the city’s mayor brings the issue to City Hall next week.
Scott Gillingham will introduce a motion at Monday’s executive policy committee meeting calling for a registry overhaul, designed to combat theft, increase public safety and promote sustainable transportation.
It will also call for a more efficient way to track stolen bikes. About 2,000 bikes are reported stolen in Winnipeg each year, and there are many more that go unreported. The city receives about 1,000 bikes a year, of which less than 10 percent are returned to their owners.
Gillingham says the current registry is online and costs $7.35 to use, and his proposal would make it free and multi-jurisdictional. If a stolen bike turns up outside the province, it can be tracked back here. He points to apps called Project 529 and BikeIndex as examples and wants the city administration to come back with a report in 90 days and find out what’s possible in our city.
“I’m asking my staff to talk to the Winnipeg Police Service, talk to WRENCH, talk to Bike Winnipeg, so that we can do a better job of tracking bicycles and hopefully reduce the number of stolen bicycles. Reduce, and register more bikes,” Gillingham said.
Charles Fiore, who chairs Bike Winnipeg’s motorcycle theft working group, says Vancouver has gone through similar changes and that thefts in the city have dropped by 42 per cent since the new registry was unveiled.
The mayor doesn’t believe bike registration needs to be made mandatory, but thinks that by making it free, it will lower barriers and allow more people to sign up.
