BIKE: UT impounding unregistered bikes

[Thorne]

"abandoned bikes on campus breed more bike thieves"

The thing about that assertion that strikes me as odd is that property
abandoned cannot be stolen, by definition.  I have no problem with UT
impounding abandoned bikes, but the official explanations doesn't seem to me
sufficient to justify putting my bike on the same footing as the wheel-less
carcass abandoned 6 months ago, as soon as I walk away from locking it up.

Am I being unreasonable to suggest that: (1) UT should place scads of highly
visible signs warning would be parkers of unregistered bicycles that UT will
impound them; (2) UT should accomodate unregistered bike parking at campus
venues likely to be visited by bike by those who are on campus only on rare
occasions (e.g., PCL, Cactus Cafe); or (3) there is reason to doubt UT will?

 
------ Original Message ------
Received: Wed, 18 May 2005 03:07:40 PM CDT
From: Michael Bluejay <bikes>
To: Austin Bikes <forum>
Cc: 
Subject: BIKE: UT impounding unregistered bikes

Uh-oh... 

> UT has announced a new policy of impounding not only bikes that are 
> improperly locked (sign posts, railings, etc) but also bikes that are 
> not registered with the University. You can see the announcement at: 
> http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transportation/biking/impoundment.html 
> 
> I checked to see if I was interpreting the policy correctly, and this 
> is the response I got: 
> 
> "Yes, bicycles must be registered with Parking and Transportation 
> Services. This rule has been in effect for some time but we will begin 
> enforcing it over the summer and much more by September. (Parking & 
> Traffic Regulations Section V: 
> http://www.utexas.edu/parking/rules/sec5.html -- see subsection 16) 
> Just as cars and other vehicles must register to park on the 
> university we do the same with bicycles. This is in part to get 
> control over the high number of abandoned bikes and to give some 
> substance to UT's bicycle community. UT and Austin is ranked 7th in 
> bike theft in the nation, and abandoned bikes on campus breed more 
> bike thieves. With a concrete number of registered bikes on campus we 
> can plan for and better accommodate those that ride to and from campus 
> as well as those that only ride on campus." 
> 
> Thought you might like to know. 
> 
> Robert Arjet 
> Life Science Library