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The world’s largest program to combat bike theft, 529 Garage, is now available to all police departments in New Zealand and British Columbia. This initiative gives law enforcement agencies access to a searchable database of bicycles, which helps in reuniting stolen bikes with their rightful owners.
The program, which started as a pilot project with the Vancouver Police Department in 2015, has over 3.1 million registered bikes worldwide. Since its inception, bike thefts have decreased by 70% in Vancouver. The founder of 529 Garage, former Microsoft executive J Allard, aims to reduce bike theft in North America by half by 2025.
The program will be rolled out across New Zealand with the help of police services, councils, retail stores, and cycling organizations. Bike owners are encouraged to register their bikes for free with 529 Garage. More information can be found on project529.com or by downloading the 529 Garage app.
New Zealand, with a population of over 5.1 million people and an estimated 4 million bikes, experiences thousands of bike thefts each year. Similarly, British Columbia, home to about 5.1 million people, will also benefit from this program.
Project 529 began in Vancouver in 2015, where 9 bikes were reported stolen daily. Today, this number has dropped to about 3 bikes per day, marking a 70% reduction. Bike retailers are also invited to join Project 529 to help combat bike thefts.
