Now here’s a REALLY BAD idea:
By Krisy Gashler • Ithaca Journal, link to original article
Anyone who rides a bike anywhere in the city would have to register it with the City of Ithaca or face a $10 fine, based on a law being considered tonight by Common Council.
Actual registration would be free, and the fine for riding a non-registered bike would be waived if the bike is registered with the Ithaca Police Department, City Attorney Dan Hoffman said.
The law would apply not just to city residents, but to anyone who rides in the city, including visitors, Hoffman said.
The purpose of the new law is to support and encourage bicycle riding, to assist in documenting bikes for planning purposes, to disseminate information to bike riders, and to facilitate the return of lost or stolen bikes, according to the Common Council’s resolution.
“I’m supportive of it just because of the basic premise of having bicycles returned,” said Alderman J.R. Clairborne, D-2nd, who chairs the Common Council committee that oversaw the legislation. Clairborne said his son has had two bikes stolen – the one that was registered was returned, the one that wasn’t was not.
Bicyclist Andrejs Ozolins said mandatory registration will only discourage people from biking.
“Requiring it is a totally far-out idea. I mean, there are thousands of bikes,” Ozolins said. “I can’t imagine actual compliance. It would be so partial it wouldn’t make any sense to begin with.”
Bicyclist Steven Powell said the law could discourage tourism at a time when the city wants to invite more visitors. “I think registration in general is a good idea to help the officials track down lost or stolen or abandoned bikes or that sort of thing. That’s a good idea. But bringing it about in a mandatory way with penalties does not seem like the best way to do it. I’d rather see an incentive given for people to register their bikes,” he said.
The police department already hosts a voluntary bicycle registration, Ithaca Police Chief Ed Vallely said. But they recover so many bikes, they have one entire garage dedicated to housing them, and they hold a yearly auction to get rid of the bikes that are never claimed.
“For me, the bottom line is to help people get their property back (and) address the issue of us having a whole garage dedicated to just bicycles,” Vallely said. “Officers are very, very busy and I’m not sure they’re going to be ticketing bikes. I mean, there are a lot of other significant issues taking place and no one gets ticketed for everything every time, as is the case with cell phones, as is speeding, as is everything else.”
Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson said in the Chicago suburbs where she grew up, bicycle registration was mandatory. However, Ithaca’s highly transient population could make a mandatory registration here more problematic, she said. “I think at this point, I do think there are some questions. I’m not ready to vote for it myself,” she said.
Ozolins praised the city for its pro-bike work on things like the new East State Street bike lane and the Cayuga Street sharrows, but urged Common Council members to drop the mandatory registration and focus on “things that make bicycling more attractive, easier and safer.” These could include more bike lanes, completing trail projects, and installing more covered bike parking, he said.
I am a regular bike commuter in Delmar/Albany and personally would not object to such registration if it is easy to do (i.e., online). I have a friend whose bike was stolen recently and know getting one back is virtually impossible without some sort of solid means of identification. Just saying your bike of a certain make and color is missing doesn’t do it. I don’t feel qualified to comment on the magnitude of the burden this places on municipal employees, which is an important consideration.
Do you have all the facts before you label this a BAD IDEA? The law is already on the books and the City was not doing anything over and beyond what already exists. Why is it a problem now? because some young whipper snapper of a reporter reported a distorted and biased interpretation of the facts???
Whoa, I don’t care if the laws exist on the books already. I still think it’s a bad idea to REQUIRE registration of bikes and to fine bikers (including visitors to the area who have no idea the law exists) for not being registered. I think it’s harassment and a big waste of tax payer funded services (i.e law enforcement and legal). Sue
Did you by any chance come to any of the committee meetings where this law was being drafted and discussed? These discussions took place over several months. You would have learned to what the spirit and intent of the law was. There is nothing in the law that states that visitors would be fined or even required to register. What is obvious is the lack of information and education. Uninformed people often jump to conclusions for absolutely no reason.
So, what you are stating MarvG, is that the Ithaca Journal articles are erroneous? The articles specifically state that under the proposal, everyone would be required to register & everyone would be subject to the fine – residents and nonresidents.
So, let’s leave this particular proposal off the table – I still think it would be wrong for any community to legislate mandatory bicycle registration and impose fines for being unregistered. Sue
I will invite you to check out the bicycle registration law for the City of Madison, WI–moreover, look at the presentation and compare that to how the Ithaca Journal presented it. Further, the Journal was well aware that the police had no intentions of detaining visitors or making them register their bikes. Simply, they could register them if so choose. The construction of the language–which has been on the books for years–was to address bicycles that will be operating in the City, not to necessarily harass visitors. In addition, the Journal managed to leave out that bikes purchase in Ithaca would already be registered. What they are also leaving out is the Bike advocacy groups were the ones that asked for the amendments to the law and the amendments referred only to bike dealers and sellers of used bikes. So, in sum, the IJ was misleading as it basically represented that the City was making new law by requiring people to register bikes. The police gave new life to it because too many bikes were being recovered with no one to claim them. Frankly, I think this is much ado about nothing.
I think the registration in case of theft is a good idea. But the idea of ticketing people for no registration is pretty lame. It seems like that’s the only way this city knows how to make money. The Ithaca people should have a choice to register their bicycles if they want to. Besides it said clearly in the description that the police department already have enough going on.