MTD teams up with law enforcement, SBBike to find unclaimed bikes new home

The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) is joining forces with local law enforcement and the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition to reunite stolen bicycles with their rightful owners.

MTD passed a resolution at Tuesday’s Board of Directors meeting. Under the new policy, bicycles left on MTD buses will be checked against the Bike Index database and the descriptions and serial numbers will be sent to the Santa Barbara Police Department, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, and the University of California Police Department.

If a bicycle is not flagged as stolen and the owner does not claim it, after 90 days MTD may donate it to the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition.

“We are excited to partner with MTD to help these abandoned bikes get safely tuned up and find new homes,” said Ed France, Executive Director of SBBike. “Bicycles are a great compliment to MTD’s service and great bike parking at stops and bike racks on the buses themselves are helpful amenities. As occasional bikes get left and go unclaimed in this system, we appreciate the ability as a bicycle-centric non-profit to take on these bikes as donations to the Bici Centro program.”

“As a transit agency, we are committed to making the first and last mile convenient for bus riders, and we encourage our riders to bring a bike along on their journey,” said Jerry Estrada, Santa Barbara MTD General Manager. “Unfortunately, some of those bikes never go home with their owners. We look forward to partnering with local law enforcement and SBBike to get these bikes back on the road.”

Residents can visit http://www.sbbike.org/bike_index to register their bicycles for free so they can more easily be found if it ever goes missing.