Rochester's Bike-Share Program Has Hundreds Of Bicycles Missing
Written by Andre on August 2, 2018
You notice how you’ve been seeing those nice bicycles from the bike-share programs Pace or Zagster less and less?
If you’ve been wondering what is going on and why you can’t seem to get a bike when you need one well the answer is simple, people are stealing them.
There are 241 bicycles missing from the bike-share programs in the city of Rochester from threat or misuse. According to the Democrat & Chronicle there were reports that individuals were actually trying to sell Pace bikes.
*sigh* Really??..
The Rochester Police Department and the City of Rochester are helping the companies retrieve the bikes. Apparently, there is a flaw in the bluetooth technology which people are taking advantage of that locks and unlocks the bikes.
Oh, and the bicycles do not have GPS locators on them which makes it difficult to locate them and/or causes phantom bike on the Pace app. Pace and Zagster are working with city officials to try to improve the current tracking system on the next fleet of bikes they bring to Rochester.
The bike-share company are pulling bikes from Ithaca to bring to Rochester and by August 17th there should be about 200 brought in to complete the summer riding season.
They released the following statement, “outstanding participation in Rochester so far with record usage compared with other dockless bike sharing programs.”
“Recently, as some of our users have noticed, a percentage of our Pace bike fleet has gone out of service due to a combination of theft and misuse. We are moving quickly to replace the displaced portion of our Rochester fleet at no cost to the city and recover any misplaced or stolen bikes. We are also bolstering our rider education efforts to ensure proper use and locking, and increasing our theft prevention procedures in coordination with the city of Rochester and local law enforcement.”
Smdh…
If you see the bikes around or know any information please call 911, 311, or Crime Stoppers 585-423-9300
Source: Democrat & Chronicle
