With a timid EU own response, bike theft continues to threaten modal shift away towards sustainable transport.
Off the record, Brussels admits that bike theft is a growing cross-border problem. But which officials at the European Commission should take charge? Those responsible for climate, transport, or for justice, business, and industry?
“Unless there’s a proven cross-border dimension, it will be difficult to raise interest at EU level because it will be seen as a local or national competence,” says an unnamed official.
“You can’t even buy an international [bike] insurance policy in Europe,” says Kevin Mayne, chief executive officer of bike-makers association Cycling Industries Europe (CIE). Fresh research by Cycling Industries Europe points to 12% of those surveyed having a bike stolen over the previous three years. CIE took nationally representative samples of 1000 people each in the eight largest markets (Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, UK, Spain and Poland). “Bicycle theft is highest in Sweden and lowest in Poland,” Mayne tells Travel Tomorrow.
CIE’s statistics indicate another 13% of those having experienced theft going on to give up on cycling. “We work incredibly hard to get modal shifts of one or two percent,” adds Mayne. “So that’s a Europe-wide impact. You could roughly say a million people gave up cycling after their bike was stolen over the three-year period.”
Europe-wide technology may slowly help with increasing use of GPS and other trackers and bike passports, exemplified by France’s mandatory bicycle identification scheme. “It’s not a competence of any European agencies. But that […]
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