Streetsblog San Francisco

BART police had some welcome news for Bay Area cyclists this week: An undercover sting led to the arrest of an alleged thief in possession of ten bikes and more than 100 bike parts. It’s a nice follow-up to the SFPD’s arrest last July of a thief who had 114 stolen bicycles.

Stories of successful bike theft crackdowns in San Francisco aren’t common, but it’s promising to hear that local law enforcement officials are directing resources to address the problem, since the perceived low risk of stealing bikes is what makes bicycles such an appealing target for thieves.

As Streetsblog New York City relayed last August, the Priceonomics Blog looked at why bike theft is so prevalent, even when “it seems as if stealing bikes shouldn’t be a lucrative form of criminal activity.” The conclusion? Bike thieves are rarely caught, and even if they are, they rarely face jail time, and that’s what draws them to the business.

A 2007 estimate of SF bike theft put the citywide number at 2,000 to 3,000 bikes per year. In the Mission, an average of 60 bikes are stolen every month, officers said at a workshop on bike theft prevention held by the SFPD last week, according to SF Weekly.

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My work routinely requires me to travel to San Francisco City Hall to cover hearings and I would estimate I’m there on average between one and two times a week. I almost always ride my bicycle and in the course of nearly two years writing for Streetsblog, I’ve never had a problem locking up on the bike racks in front of the building. Unfortunately, that changed last Thursday during a hearing for the CPMC draft environmental impact report.

After living in New York City for eight years and losing every piece of a bicycle that wasn’t thoroughly secured to the frame, I’m sensitive to bike theft and had taken most of the necessary precautions I thought I needed. Though I’ll admit I had fantastic luck when I made a boneheaded move last year and left my bicycle locked outside the 24th Street BART Station over a long weekend, I still haven’t had anything stolen from my bike in three years living in the Bay Area.

Before last Thursday, I was pretty confident with the security measures I’ve taken with my bicycle. The quick-release skewers on my wheels are clamped tight with hardware-variety hose clamps and my Brooks B-17 is secured to my frame with links of bicycle chain wrapped in an old tube, both tricks mechanic friends in New York City taught me.

I guess I figured if the bike came back to me whole after four days sitting on the street in the middle of one of the more theft-prone intersections of the Mission, surely it would be safe in front of City Hall, with all its security cameras and law enforcement officers, right?

Not so much.

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I don't have particularly strong feelings about notions of Karma or Hell, but if there is something to them, I know a particular bike thief is going to have it rough come judgment time.

The San Francisco Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a suspect they can only describe as a white male, 5’ 8”- 5’ 10” tall, 25-30 years old, with a shaved head, last seen wearing dark clothing, who stole a bicycle that belonged to a special needs child. 

According to the SFPD:

On May 16th, 2010, at approximately 4:30am, the suspect entered the gated parking lot of an apartment complex located on the 1000 block of Northpoint St. The suspect stole the custom bicycle and rode it out of the parking garage. The bicycle is manufactured by BuddyBike. It is unique in that only three other BuddyBikes are in San Francisco and only 450 exist in the United States. 

The manufacturer describes this bicycle as an "inline tandem bicycle that places the stroker in the front seat while the rear rider controls the steering…making it especially beneficial for special needs children who otherwise would not be able to experience the thrill of riding a bicycle." The bicycle belongs to a 9 year old child who uses it weekly with her family. The bicycle is identical to the attached photo.  Anyone with information is urged to contact the Confidential Tip Line, 415-575-4444.

So keep an eye out on Craigslist, eBay and your local bike shop and let us know if you find anything (right after you call the Tip Line, of course).

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Last week I did something wholly in opposition to the tenets of common sense cycling in a city: I left my quality bicycle locked up for four days in a high bicycle theft location, in this case on 24th Street right next to the BART station.

You see, last Thursday afternoon, I was late to catch the BART train I needed to get to an appointment in Oakland, and walking was not going to get me there in time. It was rush hour, so I couldn't take the bike with me, so I locked the front wheel and frame to a parking sign with a U-lock and jumped on BART.

Problem is, on the way back, I forgot all about riding my bike and walked home to pack for a long weekend camping in Yosemite. Flash forward to Monday afternoon, 4 p.m., I needed to get to an appointment in 15 minutes, and when I got downstairs in my building, my bicycle was nowhere to be found. Forgetting my own actions from Thursday, I felt a knot double in my stomach, my face flushed; I was helpless and exposed.

My Surly Long-Haul Trucker was more than fabricated tubes of metal and rubber, it had sentimental value and a name (yes, I anthropomorphize my bike as much as any motorist does his car). I built it up piece by piece with a mechanic friend three years ago, so I literally knew it inside and out.

My mind raced with feelings of rage and confusion, so that for ten minutes I couldn't think past accusatory thoughts toward my neighbors (who I assumed had hopped the back wall to my building and scaled it again with a heavy cargo-bike over their shoulder) or the contractor my landlord had hired to renovate the retail space on the ground floor of our building (both doors out to the street were locked and my landlord said the contractor didn't have a key).

Then I remembered what happened on Thursday.

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When Oakland installed its first pay-and-display parking kiosks in early 2007, parking managers ordered employees to remove the heads of the approximately 5,000 single-space meters they were replacing. Just like other cities transitioning from using single-space parking meters to newer multi-space pay stations, the parking managers failed to realize the utility of those old meter poles for cyclists, who used them for locking up their bicycles. 

"This was the last breath of turning your back on cyclists. It was obscene," said East Bay Bicycle Coalition (EBBC) Executive Director Robert Raburn, who admitted that they weren't prepared for the change and the effect it would have on cyclists, so their advocacy was "reactionary." 

The EBBC lobbied the Oakland City Council to retain what meters they could after the process had started. "What we were asking for was to make sure there was some integration between the installation of parking kiosks and bike parking," said Raburn

Jason Patton, Oakland's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager, said that the initial problem stemmed from the fact that two divisions of two separate agencies within the city weren't on the same page about bicycle parking and so the provisional solution was the best they could do.

"The plan for the new parking stations didn't address bicycle parking. Really the only option we had in working on their timeline was to leave meter heads," said Patton.

Over the complaints of the parking division, the EBBC worked with Oakland's bicycle program to develop an interim policy of preserving a minimum of two meter heads per block space in the areas where kiosks were installed. The bicycle division then spent a good deal of time and money surveying bicycle use on every street where the meters were being replaced to maximize the benefit to cyclists. Parking managers removed the "guts" of the meter heads so that drivers were less confused and affixed small yellow stickers that remind cyclists to park their bicycles parallel to the curb.

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Nearly five years ago, legendary NYC bike mechanic Hal Ruzal and I walked the streets surrounding Bicycle Habitat in Manhattan and graded the bike locking ability of New Yorkers - producing many humorous and enlightening anecdotes. The resulting video aired frequently on bikeTV and at many festivals, and because of it - Hal is still frequently asked by complete strangers to judge their bike locking.

I always wanted to do another, but as with most sequels you need a new wrinkle. This time we thought we'd give Hal some company and invited former Recycle a Bicycle mechanic Kerri Martin (and founder of The Bike Church in Asbury Park, NJ) to weigh in with her expertise.

Again, bikes on the streets of SoHo provide lots of fodder for laughs and lessons to learn.We didn't plan to but we walked the same loop and even used the same one-hour time frame. The results? The grades were a little better than five years ago. Sure, still some bad locking out there, but many more people are now sporting multiple locks and better strategies! Good news, maybe we made a difference after all...

Caltrain claims it "values bicycle commuters." In its goals and objectives the agency says "Caltrain must be a competitive alternative to traveling by automobile." That goal will be tested tomorrow when the agency presents its final plan to increase bicycle capacity on Caltrain to the Board of Directors. Advocates are frustrated it isn't being made public before it's presented and voted on.

"The final proposal isn't going to go to anybody until it goes to our board," said Mark Simon, special assistant to the Caltrain CEO. He said staff was still working on the plan as late as last night but confirmed "it will significantly increase bike capacity on Caltrain."

The number of bicycle commuters on Caltrain has soared recently and there's not enough bicycle capacity on trains so lots of bicyclists are getting bumped. Some have to wait as long as an hour for the next train -- making them late for work -- and those who defy the rules are dealt with forcibly.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has come up with an extensive plan to improve bicycle capacity without impacting passengers. Part of Caltrain's apparent resistance to adding more space for bikes is the argument that more bicycles will get in the way of passengers. But take a look at the photos below.

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