When you’re in college, there is nothing more time-efficient, cost-effective, and just plain fun than to ride your bike as your main form of transportation, to and from classes. So imagine how it must feel (or how it felt) to rise one day, only to find your favorite mode of transportation gone. What do you do? What network is in place to help you find it? How can your friends, as well as the authorities, help you keep a look out and contact you in case of recovery?

 

The 529 Garage has the solution.

University of Washington

As you know, we at Project 529 can no longer sit back and watch as bike theft runs rampant, and we have decided to take the 529 Garage on to the next level of bike-thief-butt-kickery. We are going to start where this problem is most concentrated: large universities.

We are teaming up with the University of Washington and the UW Police Department to integrate our software into their bike registration and recovery process.We will focus on raising student awareness and participation about bike registration and theft, share bike security best-practices, and provide a stream-lined place to report anything that looks fishy.

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“Bike theft is a costly problem on every college campus and we like that the 529 Garage engages our students in the solution,” said Sgt. Pratt-Wieburg of the UW Police Department. “A campus like ours is perfect for the community-driven approach. The high concentration of smartphone-savvy cyclists armed with 529 Garage is going to put heavy pressure on thieves.”

Like a mobile DMV for your bike, but without the neverending lines, dull fluorescent lights, and indifferent tellers, the 529 Garage will be the portal through which UWPD, faculty and students alike can manage all their bike registration, theft reporting and theft recovery needs. We are also putting together some exciting contests, the prizes geared towards bike safety and security, with some new partners to be announced soon!

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“College campuses are a hotbed for bicycle theft and were a key design point of the 529 Garage,” said 529 co-founder Jason Scott. “529 Garage Campus Edition is going to help UW increase the population of bikes registered, lower per-incident costs and empower the entire campus to put thieves on watch.”

Students and faculty at UW can pick up their free 529 Bike Registration Kit at the ASUW Bike Shop, Campus Security or the Transportation Building and can learn more at: www.project529.com/uw.

 

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