Technology

Reflections on our 3 year pilot to reduce bike theft in Vancouver

3 years ago I visited Vancouver to kick off Bike to Work Week. We announced a 3 year pilot in cooperation with the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Police Foundation to address the region’s growing bike theft epidemic. Constable Rob Brunt, a veteran of the VPD was assigned the task to investigate what could be done and reached out to… Read more →

Bike Theft, Bike Registration, QR Codes

The “other” QR – Quick Response Codes

Dear Annie,  I don’t understand why there is a 7 character code on 529 Shields. Seems very 20th century. Why not join the 21st century and use QR codes to make the bike more easily scannable? Everyone has smartphones today! – Computers read a code kleaner CRACK, QR, or quick response codes have been around since the early 90’s. From a… Read more →

529 Garage, Bike Registry, Bike Theft, GPS Trackers

GPS – The bike theft silver bullet?

Dear Annie,  I left my iPhone on the bus last winter and recovered it using the “Find my iPhone” feature from my computer. Seems that doing the same kind of thing for bikes would be the best possible solution to help recover a stolen bike. Why doesn’t 529 just add “Find my Bike” to their app and sell GPS trackers… Read more →