BikeID Helps Bike Owners Find Stolen Bikes

To tackle the problem of bike theft, Liu Kuo-shien, himself a cycling enthusiast, founded Taiwan's first bicycle database, BikeID, in hopes of reducing the risk of bike theft and increasing recovery rates through bicycle and owner identity verification.

Liu, 34, is a financial auditor by trade. He used to work as an auditing manager for Luxon Electronics, but after a decade of battling with complex financial report figures, he began to feel weary of this position, and quit his high-paying job to spend some months living in far-off New York City. In that carefree and open atmosphere, he started thinking that there must be another option in his life. After returning to Taiwan, he decided to search for opportunities in the popular Internet environment, and started up his BikeID website, inspired by his passion for cycling.

Cycling enthusiast Liu Kuo-shien created the BikeID website to address the growing problem of bicycle theft. He hopes his system of registering bikes and matching them to their owners will reduce the risk of bike theft and increase recovery rates of stolen bikes.

Accessories before the fact

Bike lovers everywhere regard personal safety and theft as their two biggest concerns. Says Liu, since cyclist safety involves public issues such as traffic control, personal riding habits and the provision of bicycle lanes, it is not an issue that he has much power to improve. But the problem of theft is something he feels he has a real chance of combating.

Although the top-of-the-line Specialized brand bike Liu rides is second hand, he says that it still can still fetch over NT$40,000. Whenever he takes it out for a spin, he doesn掐 dare leave it out of his sight, fearing that it would be stolen in an instant. I have a lot of Ifriends who have had the experience of losing their bikes. It's not just a monetary loss, but also an emotional one, causing a lot of heartache.?According to Liu, bikes are lightweight and easy to dismantle, ownership is hard to prove, they easy to sell, and even when reported to police they are difficult to recover. So he looked over American and Canadian websites and came up with the idea of a database in which bike owners can register the distinguishing features of their bicycles such as the frame, wheels, brakes and gearshift systems, as well as store purchasing information.

If a bicycle is stolen, the owner can mark the location of the theft and the route he took before the theft via a Google Maps system. The site will then send data on the bike掇 features to other members so they can help in the search. This information on bicycle parts and the location of the theft can also serve as important clues for police investigations.

Exercise records too

Liu also plans to give the site members a bicycle ID sticker bearing an identification number, like a small license plate, making it easier for owners to identify their bikes.

But on top of its antitheft purpose, BikeID also allows members to record their routes, mileage, time and heart rates for each outing, and there's also a discussion forum so cyclists can share the joy of biking and what they have learned in training.

ebsites where you can record your exercise activity have been available for years in other countries, but a platform like this hasne been available for the Chinese community until now. There are actually a lot of fitness enthusiasts in Taiwan, and I believe this is a promising market,?says Liu.

BikeID is currently part of Tamkang University ChamPion Incubation Center website. Its future operations will be supported through advertising and merchandise sales, and will use the resources of public bodies such as the National Police Agency, so members done need to pay fees.

Liu, who has invested NT$500,000 in this project, remarks that membership should surpass 10,000 by the end of the year, and he forecasts that he should recoup his outlay in a year and a half.

Liu says he hopes his site can earn money, but this isn't the main reason he founded it. It'S the idea of vigilance among fellow cyclists working together for the common good that moves him to do this. a bike lover, so I know very well what people need. Although my site isn't earning as much as I'm hoped, as long as it helps my fellow cyclists, it掞l be worth it even if I have to support it with money from other work."