Stopping Bike Theft

We propose developing a citizen science campaign on the topic of bicycle theft. Many victims of
bicycle theft do not report their loss to the police, leaving mobility researchers without reliable information
about the magnitude, extent and spatial patterns of this problem. We know that official data vastly
underestimates the real number of bicycles stolen in city streets. However with the help from the
regular bike users, we can discover the true extent of this problem. This project will mobilize the cycling
community to report bicycle theft on a crowdsourcing platform that launched in June 2023. We will use
IMPETUS funding to (1) build a new and connected community, (2) design and implement a campaign
encouraging cyclists to report bike theft, and (3) analyze the data to uncover spatial patterns in theft.
After 6 months, we will have developed a community of citizen-scientists and generated insight on the
spatial patterns of theft including how official data sources underestimate the real numbers of stolen
bikes.