BikeRetriever

Our motivation for beginning this project has its starting point in a Københavns Kommune’s pilotproject “Cykelchip” launched back in 2009, which was an attempt to address the issue of bicycle theft in the Copenhagen area.
The project was terminated in 2011 due to negative evaluation results1. Considering the surprisingly large amount of bicycles stolen (approximately 18.000 every year alone in the Copenhagen area, ca.71.000 nationwide 2 3), one could have hoped for a more ambitious attempt. All in all 5.300 chips were installed, 250 were registered by the car park attendants, 26 were reported stolen and two bikes were found 4. What is thought provoking here is they allegedly spent 3.200.000 DKr on the project.
Giving the large investment in this “Cykelchip”-project, is a clear indication of the problem and an acknowledgement for a serious effort in resolving this issue. To every action there is a reaction. This is ours. Instead of relying solely on car park attendants to find the stolen bikes, we want to create an online platform that take attend to this problem.
We believe that there is a need for a strong and organized nationwide network for bicyclists, that allow for a better chance of retrieving your stolen bicycle. Furthermore we believe that the GPS tracking service will have a preventive effect on general bicycle theft.