Wednesday, September 27, 2006

U of T Bike Thief Trap (680 News, Toronto Sun)

"High-tech traps set for would be bike-theives at U of T - September 27, 2006 -"
"To catch a thief, specifically a bicycle thief, University of Toronto officials have set up a high-tech trap. Hundreds of bicycles are locked up at any given time at the U of T campus downtown making it a sort of a one-stop shopping depot for bike thieves. But starting Wednesday, there are bait bicycles fitted with GPS beacons locked up at various locations on campus. These bikes send out homing signals so campus police can track their movement and catch unsuspecting bike thieves as they ride off.
Students hope this program works because for them, losing their bicycles means losing their mobility.
"I rely on my bike 100 per cent. A student's budget can't really include superfluous things like getting another $600 bike or something," said one student. Two or three bikes a week are stolen from the U of T campus, and campus police are hoping that this program will reduce those numbers by about 20 per cent." More in the Toronto Sun

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's unusual that U of T shows more smarts and leadership than the City, but they have here. With all the many millions we spend on our own cops, why can't this be done elsewhere in the City? Are the cops too carist? The Weltschmerz/lund motto "To swerve and project" rings too true sometimes.