Just how prevelent is bike theft?
Inspired by the Sheldon Brown locking method thread, I've been thinking. I know theft is a problem, but just how bad is it?
I just did a bit of checking and I've found reports that say the Vancouver area has about 17,000 cycle commuters and about 1600 bikes stolen each year. Almost 95% of bicycle riders do so recreationally, so those 17,000 commuter bikes on the street only represent a possible 5% of the bikes out there. So (and I'm sure my math is wrong here - but -) that means 1600 out of 340,000 bikes go missing. That's less than one half of a percent of the total, isn't it?
Most of the thefts are near the downtown core that has a large population of druggies with bolt cutters looking to cut a lock and sell a bike for $20 so they can buy a rock. I'll bet the next largest contingent of thefts belong to thefts from homes where other items were stolen. I'd imagine the next largest group of bikes stolen are those where the bike was locked up poorly, or not at all, and some kid comes along and wants to go for a ride.
Police recover about half of all bikes stolen but return only a small portion due to owners either not showing up to check if their bike has been found but also because almost no one has a serial number for their bike. The unclaimed bikes go on sale at auctions.
Of course, I wouldn't expect a bike to last for long if it isn't locked up, but I see so many examples of bikes that are locked ineffectively using the worst quality locks, that I wonder how these last at all.
Just how bad is this problem if you're careful, park in a relatively secure area, and lock it up right? (considering there are relatively few pros out there and there's not much you can do to stop them)