Cws EDITOR LEY DOCTOR THE VOICE, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2012 2 Police loan out engravers to cyclists Local police trying to prevent bike thefts in South Vancouver by mark- ing bicycles and valuables By RYAN BANAGAN region of Vancouver and the down- town core more than anywhere else in the city, says a report from the Vancouver Police Department. As a result, the South Vancouver Community Policing Centre has start- ed the Property Engravement Pro- gram. The program allows citizens to en- grave their valuable goods, like bicy- cles, with their information. This way, thieves are less likely to steal the marked items and if they are stolen, police can find the owner and return the bicycle or other valuable quickly and easily. “Usually we recommend that people engrave their driver’s license number on the bike,” said Constable Andrew Pang on Saturday at their annual Com- munity Policing Day. A driver’s license or other ID num- ber is suggested because police can run the number through their computer database and locate the owner effi- ciently. Police agencies have immediate na- tional and international communica- tions, noted Pang. “Within seconds, police will get the description of the identified property,” he said. This means wherever the stolen bi- cycle or other item is found, local police can still identify the rightful owner. Police also advise owners record the serial number of their bicycle or other valuable for their own records. The hope is that easier police identi- fication will discourage thieves from taking items that once couldn’t be iden- tified by ownership, said Pang. Whether or not the new program is working is still in question. “We haven’t seen too much success with the program yet, but then again it hasn’t been around for long,” Pang said. Between January 1 and May 31 of this year, 554 bikes were reported sto- len in Vancouver, compared to 338 in the same period last year. The southwest portion of the city, running from UBC and Point Grey to the Sunset, Oakridge and Marpole neighbourhoods, had the highest theft rates this year and last. During the five month window of the report, 228 bicycles were stolen from the southwest region this year. An overwhelming majority of the thefts were bicycles reported stolen from bike racks. There have also been reports of bur- glars scaling apartment buildings to reach balconies and fire escapes in or- der to steal unattended and unlocked bikes. Police suggest locking your bicycle in well-lit public places where there is more of a chance someone will see the bike being stolen and intervene. The engravers are loaned out free to the public for one week with a refund- able deposit of $20. For more information about renting an engraver contact the South Vancou- ver Community Policing Centre direct- ly at 604-717-2940. Be: are stolen in the southwest \ \ STEVEN CHUA photo Kathleen Oliver, an English instructor at Langara College, says the weather plays a role in how many people commute via bike. Commuters biking, but not to school New studies say Vancouver commuters riding bikes more, but Langara’s numbers dropped By STEVEN CHUA ore people are riding their bikes, but not to Langara Col- lege, according to surveys. Recent TransLink figures show that from 2008 to 2011 bike use went up over 25 per cent in Metro Van- couver. But not everyone is embracing the trend. “The Canada Line is more conve- nient,” said Erica Yuan, an economics student at Langara. Sentiments like this are echoed in the college’s informal surveys, which suggest that bike ridership numbers have dropped by almost 50 per cent. Statistics taken from Langara polls show that 3 per cent of people in 2011 used bikes as their main way of getting to school, down from 5 per cent in 2008. Raymond Yeung, the College’s trans- portation co-ordinator, said the figures were a good start at getting an idea of ridership, but a randomized survey would be needed to get a concrete un- derstanding. The Langara community also no- ticed a difference in numbers. “Tm surprised,” said Joe Maceach- ern, an education student at Langara. “There seems to be fewer [cyclists].” “And relative to the numbers in Lan- gara, I’m a little bit shocked there are so few bicycles here,” he said. Others think that seasonal changes make it hard to measure how many rid- ers make the trip to school each day. Kathleen Oliver, an English instruc- tor at Langara, says it’s hard to tell if cyclist numbers are changing as a trend or if the weather is the deciding factor. “The weather’s still really good so it’s too early to call that one I think,” said Oliver, observing that ridership could easily plummet once the city’s rainy season hits. Yeung said the college is encourag- ing more people to bike to school by providing infrastructure such as the installation of three charging stations for electric bicycles. When asked if the city had plans to increase ridership in both the Langara and South Vancouver areas, Councillor Geoff Meggs said, “Well no doubt there are [plans], but they are going to be in our Transportation 2040 plan this fall.” BIKE safety HE Remember it's illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk or through a crosswalk HE invest ina safe helmet and high- visibility lights for night riding ME sRide carefully when riding in wet or icy conditions Source: Bike Sense BC New hot tub seating a ‘good times: machine The area of South Hillis now home to a food truck and new public seating By SIMONE PFEIFFER was installed near the corner of Fraser and East 44th Avenue in the first week of September. The site was developed as part of a South Hill Business Improvement As- sociation proposal to Viva Vancouver, a city program that turns regular spaces into public areas. Hot Tubs was designed by Matthew Thomson and Erika Mashig earlier this year. The site was intended to “be a tem- porary seating area,” said BIA Market- ing Assistant Justin Lai. “It’s a place where people can pick up a snack and have a rest.” The association hoped to have the project up for at least six months. The City of Vancouver recently an- nounced the hot tubs have been ap- proved for the next three years. Lai said Hot Tubs got a positive reac- tion from visitors following the launch party in early September. Residents of the area seem apprecia- tive of the installation, but it isn’t as popular as initially anticipated. Keller Ng said she first noticed it when she drove by and saw the launch party which was held on Sept. 7. “T thought it was part of a movie shoot, it was so nice,” said Ng. Carol Robillard lives a few doors down the street. She said that she hasn’t seen many people visit the site since it was built. “Tt’s not being used as much as they thought,” she said. “T walk by every day with my dogs. Most people come by to eat and then go,” said Robillard. Across the street is JJ’s Trucketeria, a food truck that debuted at the launch party for Hot Tubs. It is “the first [food truck] outside the downtown core,” said Lai. JJ’s Trucketeria serves a mix of foods, including perogies, breakfast foods, tacos, and fried rice dishes and is located across from Hot Tubs. While Robillard said the Hot Tubs project is a great idea, she thinks it would draw more people if it was in a more central location, closer to the shops along Fraser Street. She says the people who walk by the seating and use it the most are resi- dents of the South Hill neighbourhood. H:: Tubs, a new public art project, SOUTH HILL BIA photo One of the Hot Tub seats near 44th Avenue and Fraser Street.