Mandatory bike registry unlikely for Winnipeg: report

The city’s public service is advising council not to add a mandatory bike registry.

Back in January, council ordered a study of mandatory registration at the point of bike purchases, with the goal of returning more stolen bikes to their owners.

But the public service now recommends that idea be scrapped, arguing it would be too expensive and too complicated to implement.

“Our engagement with stakeholders pointed to significant challenges related to implementation and enforcement of a mandatory bike registry,” Marcia Fifer, the city’s licensing co-ordinator, writes in a report headed to council’s protection, community services and parks committee.

In a follow-up interview, Fifer said smaller retailers were concerned that adding registration to each bike purchase would demand too much staff time.

“We didn’t want to put a burden upon our retailers,” said Fifer.

She said a scan of bike registries in other Canadian cities found all who had tried mandatory ones, which at one point included Winnipeg, have since abandoned them. Fifer said the cost to administer and enforce such programs was found to exceed the potential benefits.

“The cost definitely outweighed any money the program was bringing in,” she said.

The public service does plan to find new ways to better promote the city’s voluntary bike registration system, which has grown to list 12,000 bicycles, Fifer said.

“That’s significant because we used to get only a few hundred new registrations a year, now in the last year we’ve gotten about 3,000,” she said.

Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski), who lobbied for the mandatory registry, said he’s disappointed by the report. Eadie said reuniting owners with stolen bikes is especially important in his ward, where cycling is a key means of transportation.

He fears maintaining the status quo means it will remain difficult for police to return stolen bikes to their rightful owners.

“They’re not considering the burden on the officer on the street, who will also face the frustration of the people,” said Eadie.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, who chairs the protection and community services committee, agreed bike theft is a pressing concern, noting her own three children’s bikes were all stolen last year.

“Winnipeg has particular challenges with respect to bike theft, so I think there is an imperative to always see … if there is any innovations that we could be doing,” said Rollins.

The chair said she was pleased by the report’s extensive consultation efforts and will wait to hear her colleagues’ responses to it before weighing in on its recommendations.

The protection committee will consider the report on May 22.

jpursaga@postmedia.com

Twitter: @pursagawpgsun