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New bike rules in Ann Arbor no longer require registration

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

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Ann Arbor

One would think a town as obsessed with alternative transportation and bike lanes as Ann Arbor would be expanding its bike registry. However, City Council is moving to eliminate what has become a cumbersome program.

For decades, city has charged $8 for people to register their bike, primarily to help fight bicycle theft. About 650-700 bicycles are registered each year. That has meant that list has grown to thousands upon thousands dating back to the 1970s. Many of those registrations were logged by local students.

"The ones that were U-M students in 1986 and are no longer anywhere near the city anymore, we don't need those," says Eli Cooper, transportation program manager for the city of Ann Arbor.

City staff had proposed reforming the system so any bike registration that reaches five years old would be automatically culled from the lists unless it is renewed. Cooper estimates that could help push bike registration up to 1,000 bikes per year.

However, there is the argument that a bicycle registration isn't necessary at all. Modern bicycles come with a serial number stamped into their frame. Those numbers can be logged onto an online database, National Bike Registry, which is also accessible to local law enforcement. Cooper argues that while the registry is useful it, a local bike registry makes it easier for local law enforcement to navigate a shorter list.

Source: Eli Cooper, transportation program manager for the city of Ann Arbor
Writer: Jon Zemke