Philadelphia Stolen Bikes and a Facebook Solution

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In 2010 as a response to the on going problems with bike theft in Philadelphia a Facebook page was created where people could post stolen bikes in the hopes of recovering them, Philadelphia Stolen Bikes. Reading through many of the posts it seems that they have had success in recovering stolen bicycles, where the thefts have been happening, stolen bicycles that have been sighted, and the possible neighborhoods bicycle thieves live in.

With populations that change apartments, many of Philadelphia's neighborhoods intimidated by criminals, and the “no snitching” culture; quality of life crimes have become an acceptable part of a neighborhood. In the past this would have been a community effort as neighbors who knew neighbors and talked amongst themselves to prevent these crimes or identify the people who commit them. An interesting phenomena that has occurred with the Internet and the development of social websites. The creation of new communities within Philadelphia based on a common interest, in this case stolen bicycles. This a growing trend as documented by the Wall Street Journal and I am glad to see that it has reached Philadelphia.

There are some steps that you can take to make recovery of your bicycle goes smoothly in the vent it is found.

1.     Take a picture of your bicycle and a picture of you with the bicycle. You'll need to do this to document ownership.

2.     Write down the serial number of your bicycle and take a picture of it. The serial number can usually be found on the bottom bracket. If you can't find have your local bike shop show you where it is. This will also help you document ownership

3.     File a police report. Yes I know the police are not going to be terribly sympathetic, by having the theft on record makes it harder for a thief to claim they own or found the bike.

4.     Alert friends and coworkers who live in the city, regularly search E-Bay and Craigslist, talk to local bike shops, and post to the Philadelphia Stolen Bikes Facebook page.

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Philadelphia Bicycling Tales of the Absurd – I

In Philadelphia its tough enough with periodic attempts by various Philadelphia City Council and those trying to get elected to Philadelphia City Council to make bicycling and bicycling infrastructure as difficult as possible. But when President of the Traffic Court Thomasine Tynes states:

“Make city bicyclists register their bikes, cite them for moving violations such as riding on the sidewalk or blowing through stop signs, and then have those tickets dealt with by Traffic Court, Judge Thomasine Tynes suggests. "I am not against the cyclists," Tynes said. "But the problem is there is no punishment for not abiding by the law."

I find it astounding that any traffic court judge, let alone the President of the Philadelphia Traffic Court could make such egregious statements. A simple Google search under “Pennsylvania Bicycle Laws led me to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation website regarding bicycles and traffic law. Section 3508 A&B, clearly explains that riding on the sidewalk is against the law and Section 3501-B states that: “Bicycles are considered vehicles under Pennsylvania Laws and must obey all the rules of the road which apply to vehicles. These are the "responsibilities" mentioned above. The "rights" refer to the roadway space required to operate the bicycle in a safe, lawful manner.”  In other words, bicycles are subject to the same laws as cars and the same fines.

You don't need to have a bicycle license or a bicycle license plate for a police officer to write you a ticket. Valid ID is all the police need and if you don't have one they can hold you at the station until they can verify your address.

So what would I do?

I would send President of the Traffic Court Judge Thomasine Tynes to a remedial course in traffic law. Clearly Judge Tynes needs this based on the statements she has made. What this really boils down to is enforcement of the existing laws by the Philadelphia Police Department, if Judge Tynes truly feels that this is an important issue than she should pressure the police to step up enforcement of the current laws instead of trying to create ineffective new laws. Otherwise this is just another attempt by an elected official to make name for themselves without actually doing anything.

Lock your bicycle

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With the return of all of the college students to Philadelphia a rise in theft of bicycle parts and bicycles, all you have to do is read Craigslist or hangout at any number of local bike shops. The worst part is that many of these thefts could have been avoided. Below are list of some of the most common statement you will read or hear when someone has his or her bike stolen.

I locked my bike outside overnight and now its gone.

I locked my bike to a fence and now its gone.

I locked my bike to the railing outside my home and now its gone.

I locked my bike in the backyard and now its gone.

My front/rear wheel was stolen.

My saddle (seat) was stolen.

My cable lock was cut.

Meet the bicycle thief’s favorite tool, bolt cutters, capable of cutting any lock and chain you can buy in your local hardware store, cable locks, and chain link fence in less than 10 seconds. And can easily be concealed in a backpack or under a jacket. And leaving your bike in a public place with an inferior lock won’t help as demonstrated in this video.

So how can you reduce your risk of having your bicycle or parts of it getting stolen?

Step 1. Make the investment in a high quality lock, my preference has always been Kryptonite locks, because of the way they rate their locks and the effort they make to create locks for any situation. Get the five foot long Kryptonite chain and wear it like a belt. Yes I know the lock may cost almost as much as your bike, but it’s cheaper than having to buy a new bicycle.

Step 2. Think about what you are locking your bike to solid objects are best, lampposts, parking meters, signs, and bike racks. Remember chain link fences and railings can be easily cut. Please avoid the trees, its bad for the trees and trees can be easily cut.

Steps 3. Never leave your bicycle outside overnight. No matter how securely you've locked it, even if you think locking it a backyard  is out sight. All you have done is give a bicycle thief plenty of time when everyone is asleep. For all the years I have had bikes I always made room where I lived to store it indoors, even if it meant having one less piece of furniture or some highly creative storage techniques. Like bike lifts or wall mounts.

Step 4. Be careful what you own. Bicycle thieves are not stupid and they recognize high-end bikes like Trek, Jamis, Cannondale, and Specialized. There are plenty of older bicycles available through Craigslist and Via Bicycles, who specialize in restoring older bicycles. You can still ride a quality bicycle that is not a target.

Step 5. Lock your bicycle thoroughly, especially if you have quick release. It only takes a bicycle thief seconds to remove any part off your bicycle. Get a cheap cable lock to lock down your saddle

Seat and seat post - $50.00

Rear rim - $125.00

Front rim - $75

These are just costs for basic replacements.

In the end this is all up to you and how important a primary source of transportation is to you.

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Reader Feedback

Following the post about Chinatown and Bicycle Lanes I received this e-mail from Peter F. a reader in New York City about his recent experiences riding Philadelphia's bicycle lane. While many of us take for granted what we experience it is always interesting to see how an outsider experiences them.
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Nice blog!  I'm a NYC bike commuter, who was in Philly Friday....took my folder on AmTrak, as you can see from the pix.  Feel free to publish it and my account below! 

Here's a story of my return ride to Penn Station 30th from Independence Sq that I wrote to my friend, a fellow cyclist who lives in Philly:

Spruce Street bike lane is very nice. As you instructed, from Independence Square I picked it up a few blocks away and took it to 22nd Street which I thought you said.  But unable to get onto JFK Boulevard from 22nd I continued on it in search of the next Left to Penn Station. Which took me to the absolutely lovely new green painted bike lane on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Like Dorothy finding the Yellow Brick Road, I was certain I arrived at the Nirvana of newly bike-able  Philly. I  hung a left toward the Art Museum  Surely there would be additional  bike routes there to lead me to 30th Street Penn Station. 

And yes, there are more pavement stripes that look like bike lanes at the Eakins Oval by the museum.  Nice!

Buoyed by this excellent experience I check Google Maps (unfortunately Ride the City, which maps bike routes in many cities, omits Philly) and saw promising walking directions via the Schuylkill River Trail path and figured I would take that. But I missed the entrance to the trail.

 No matter, following the circle another 100 feet or so I take a right on 24th Street which has a new painted  stripe on the right side. "I am a bike path" it says to me. Down the hill I ride, confident that I will emerge on a route back to JFK Boulevard.  

The "lane" gets narrower. "And what's with the trucks?" I say to myself  Seconds later I am on a narrow strip at the side of the US Highway 30 with no exit in sight until I get a half mile back to 15th Street!  Ugh!  Nothing like riding over sewer grates and discarded highway garbage with a few feet separating a concrete wall from 6 ton semis. And too narrow to turn around and go back. I commit to the terrifying ride to the first exit. Low gear and slow so if I fall I'll be on the wall side. 

I make it safe and sound, and once again am impressed by the pharmacologic effects of adrenalin! 

If you point me to a Philly DOT site I will compliment them on what is a much improved bike network but ask them to post a clear sign on the 24th street intersection that it leads to the highway and what looks like a bike lane is not one at all. Of course, they should paint diagonal lines in the space between the line and the curb so that it would be obvious this is curb space and not a lane.   The Philly bike network seems to be largely paint anyway, so this is inexpensive to do. 

Plenty of excitement for one day.  And looking at the map, you likely said 20th Street and not 22nd for the R turn from Spruce. That damn bike lane on 20th and the green painted beauty on Franklin seduced me into a false sense of a traffic-calmed Philly. It's rough side just a few moments away!

Park(ing) Day - 2011

On Friday, September 16 take sometime to walk around Center City Philadelphia and celebrate Park(ing) Day. Park(ing) Day was founded by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, in 2005 to raise awareness of the need for green spaces in urban environments. By converting a single parking space into a parklet for one day, the only limitation on what you can do is that of your imagination. Philadelphia celebrated Park(ing) Day for the first time in 2008 with over 25 installations for relaxing, cycling, creating art, education, and socializing.

On Friday, September 16 take some time to walk around Center City Philadelphia and visit some of the 34 Park(ing) Day parks. To see a map with the location of all of the parks and for additional information, please visit: http://www.parkingdayphila.org/interactivemap.