The alarming impact of bicycle theft on ridership behavior

Here is another good reason for installing bike racks following best practices. If bicycle riders can't secure their bikes securely to proper racks located in places of high visibility — where people pass close to entrances, and racks are visible from windows — cyclists will lose bikes or bike parts to thievery. Recent research from three universities surveyed 1,821 individuals in North America to see what effect experiencing bicycle thievery had on their commitment to bicycling. Forty-five percent had reduced or ceased bicycling. The occasional rider or lower income person was least likely to continue bicycling. Having a low income makes losing a bicycle a costly event. For occasional riders who are on the fence about whether to continue using bicycles, seeing their wavering commitment to bicycling disappear due to theft is a significant loss for El Cerrito and Richmond Annex's attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.