Authorities concerned about rising number of bike thefts in Montreal

Authorities and cycling advocates in Montreal are concerned that bike thefts are again on the rise on the island.

Corran Addison is one of those who had his ride stolen despite having a steel chain and padlock for his mountain bike.

"The bike that I was on was an $8,000 dollar bike," the LaSalle resident said. "It was just three days old."

What's even worse, Addison was in his home for just 15 minutes to grab a coffee.

"In that time, when I came out, the chain had been cut and the bike was gone," he said.

Velo Quebec CEO Jean-Francois Rheault said bike theft is on the rise in the city.

"We know that it's only the point of the iceberg," he said. "A lot of people do not take the time to report the bike thefts."

Rheault said there are two key concerns dissuading Montrealers from cycling: a lack of infrastructure and fear of theft.

"Some people, because they're afraid of theft, they might not take a trip or they might not visit certain parts of the city," he said.

Thefts, authorities say, are happening across the island, including in Addison's quiet residential LaSalle neighbourhood.

"I think it's unusual that it happened here, but I think there's people who are desperate, there's people who are struggling and then there's people who are just thieves," he said.

The popularity of biking in the city is another factor leading to more thefts, according to Rheault.

"The price of some bikes can be quite significant," he said. "So combining the two things makes the market for secondary bike perhaps a bit more attractive."

Rheault advises investing in a quality lock and registering your bike.

Rob Brunst is with Project 529, which is an international company that works with the police.

"I was a policeman in Vancouver, and I'd been on the street for 25 years at that time and I was trying to do something with our bike theft," he said.

The free app allows bike owners to even skip reporting thefts to police.

"Hit start alert on my phone on the app, and that will fan out the stolen bike information to everybody within 15 kilometres, so the police get that information, bike stores get that information and then the cycling public gets that information," said Brunst.

The Montreal version of the app launched under "Garage 529" in 2021. There are currently over 27,000 registered users in the city, and it's helped around 200 owners retrieve their stolen bikes so far. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Project 529 (@project529)