Bike Theft in London: We Need Solutions

Jody Bailey recently had his bicycle stolen from outside of London’s Central Public Library. Although the theft was captured on surveillance video, the police could not pursue action against the individuals on the tape.

However Jody received a lot of online support and he describes it as “Amazing! London has a great online community and Twitter has been a blessing. The #ldnont hashtag is the lifeblood of London Twitter activity and...within hours of posting my experience on Twitter, I had dozens of well wishes, two people contact me about blog posts [here and here]...to say there is support is an understatement.”

We discussed how technology can make life easier for cyclists. Jody “would like Google Maps to have bike friendly suggestions for people plotting out their route”. On a smaller scale “a community website that offers safe and comfortable routes mapped out might be helpful”. A site like this would allow “people on bikes to see how others get from their corner of the city to other places and see comments or suggestions such as trails that can be useful”. I agree that a website like this would be great. While the City of London does offer help on biking and bike maps on their website, I would really appreciate knowing the routes that other cyclists take around the city. For instance I find that Waterloo (from Princess to Huron) is preferable to Colborne for commuting to the University, even though Colborne has a bike lane.

Jody is a longtime bicycle rider, has been riding for over ten years as his main form of transportation, all year round (yes, even winter). Jody’s experience is that “London is equally hostile to people on bikes. It isn’t often that I can ride on the streets and not get honked at or yelled at: told to get on the sidewalk” compared with other Canadian cities. Despite this, he thinks that perhaps “there is someone who sees me biking” and considers taking it up themselves, a consoling thought when facing unfriendly motorists on the street.

In terms of what makes a street unsafe for biking, Jody makes the observation that in London, the bike lanes on the roads seem to do more harm than good. While this is perhaps counterintuitive, it’s because the city’s bike lanes “only last for a block or two, dumping those on bikes into normal traffic. Making that transition can be very dangerous.” As a result the lanes give “a false sense of security”. He notes that “For cycling to really work in a city, the city needs to make the decision to include bike lanes as part of its infrastructure, not just a couple of token blocks in front of schools.” This message is timely considering that London is currently inviting people to share their ideas for transportation, as part of their “Transportation Master Plan”.

Jody sees bike lanes, properly incorporated into the city’s infrastructure, “like bus stops and sidewalks are”, as key to making “people feel safe commuting daily on a bike”. This is because novice cyclists do not “have the knowledge and skill-set to be safe in traffic”, and “a proper bike lane network is a potential answer to this dilemma”. Jody’s advice for riding a bicycle is that “on the road you are a car, act like a car...acting like something other than a car induces uncertainty and that is when bad things happen”. Being highly visible to cars is of the utmost importance, especially when passing through intersections “which is by far the most dangerous part of the road for a bike”. He also suggests that cyclists “don’t hug the sidewalk allowing cars to think there is room to pass you without moving out of the right lane...when you come up to an intersection where you will be stopping, check over your shoulder to ensure you have the lane, pull into the middle of the lane, and take your line with the rest of the cars”.

Despite the problems that come with bicycling come the numerous benefits, as Jody notes “you eat better, sleep better, your mind is clearer, and you show up for work with a smile on your face... a bike is true freedom”, compared with using an automobile, which “provides a false sense of freedom”. Jody notes that “you can buy a high end bike, and high end clothing that will allow you to easily bike 8-10 months of the year, for a fraction of what a 15 year old used vehicle costs”, and “you are not tethered to gas stations or a monthly car payment”.

Even if London creates infrastructure for cyclists, bike theft is likely to remain problematic. Jody and others have been brainstorming ideas to reduce this type of crime in the city. For now the “only answer I can come up with is to not lock your bike up”. While bike theft is probably not considered very closely by anyone but cyclists, Jody rates it as worse than being involved in an accident. While preventing bike theft is the first step, secondary ones include “removing the network that exists for stolen bikes” to reduce the appeal of stealing them. While inquiring at pawn shops Jody heard people say “we can probably find the type of bike you are looking for”, an “unnerving” response to someone who has just had their bike stolen. Jody, despite having “the best lock money can buy” still had his bike stolen during daylight, in an area with high pedestrian traffic, that was under video surveillance. Clearly something needs to be done.  

Thankfully Jody’s bike theft story has a happy ending. Jody got his bike back, not through police intervention, but through happy coincidence. Jody spotted his bike on the street nine days after losing it, and was able to confront the person and take it back. The person had purchased the bicycle from someone else, a common occurrence, as most stolen bikes are quickly resold for a fraction of their market value. However many people are not so lucky and do not recover their bicycles.

If you want to get involved with efforts to reduce bike theft in the city and discuss bicycle solutions, you can find Jody on Twitter (http://twitter.com/3oh6), and you can also find him on the Motesha Project.