Walking, biking and e-scootering are some of the options that many Gainesville residents use as a form of transportation. However, theft has posed a threat to individuals who rely on bicycles and e-scooters as a way to travel across Gainesville.
On Nov. 15, UF Public Safety held an event where the first 400 individuals with bikes and e-scooters registered with the UF Police Department would receive a free chipolo tag, a tracking device.
UF students are one group who use bikes and e-scooters to travel from their apartments and homes to campus every day — a process jeopardized by theft.
Jayden Noel, a 19-year-old UF aerospace engineering sophomore, has used her e-scooter to get around campus since her freshman year. Noel uses a bike lock to secure her e-scooter when she’s not using it.
Noel said she’s heard about e-scooters and bicycles getting stolen since she started college, but she believes it is more common amongst bicycles.
Noel said she registered her e-scooter with UPD, and got a sticker that would identify her scooter.
Shane Ferrell, a 23-year-old UF computer science fifth-year student, uses his bicycle as his primary form of transportation on UF campus and throughout Gainesville. Ferrell said that he has gotten his bicycle stolen twice, once during his freshman year and another during his sophomore year.
“I had just left it outside without locking it up one day before I went into my dorm, and it was stolen. And then the second bike I had stolen was locked up outside my apartment,” he said.
Ferrell said the second time his bike was stolen, the lock had been cut off. He said he believes bike theft is more common on the outskirts of campus.
Citizens of Gainesville are another group that has been targeted by micro mobility theft.
Diann Dmitri, 80, is the coordinator for Bikes 4 Vets. For 15 years Bikes 4 Vets has been supplying homeless veterans with bicycles for transportation and recreational use. Dmitri said she has experienced many cases of bicycle theft with the bicycles she distributes.
“What I realized lately is that about every 10 bikes I give out, one of them is going to be stolen, if not two,” she said. “A guy out at GRACE, actually, he was a vet, and he had a $2,500 e-trike, an electric trike, and someone stole that.”
Dmitri said people steal not only bikes, but the parts of the bikes as well.
“You have a quick release seat. You have a quick release front tire,” she said. “You can have your bike locked up and come back and there won’t be any seat, there won’t be any tire, and if you have your lights on with those little bands, those will be gone too.”
Dmitri said people should keep their bikes inside to avoid getting bicycles or their parts stolen.
Last year, UPD had 122 reported cases of bicycle theft. In 2022, there had been 76 reported cases of bicycle theft.
Contact Sofia Meyers at smeyers@alligator.org. Follow her on X @SofiaMeyer84496.
