Despite recent efforts to decrease bike thefts, bike thefts on and near the University of Oregon campus increased by approximately 24% in one year, rising from 96 reported incidents in 2023 to 119 reported incidents in 2024, according to the University of Oregon Police Department’s Clery Act crime logs. 

Bike thefts peaked in 2024 during the summer and fall months, with 11 in August 2024 and 16 in October 2024. More recently, in April 2025, there were 16 reported bike thefts. In April of 2024, there were only six. As summer approaches bike thefts are in peak season. 

“Now that the weather’s getting better, now is that prime time,” UOPD Police Chief Jason Wade said, referencing the bolstering efforts to prevent bike thefts. 

Keeping your bike safe this summer 

“Keep My Seat Warm,” a bike valet program for extended school break, is back again this summer under a new name: “No Bike Left Behind.” Launched in 2020, the program offers a free valet service for students and their bikes, holding them in a UOPD secure location until students are available to retrieve them. 

All bikes held in storage must be picked up by October 10 and will be donated if not retrieved in time, according to UO Spokesperson Eric Howald. 

There are 20 bike storage spaces available for the summer. 

“This is going to be probably the safest place for bicycles in Eugene at this point,” Chief Wade said. “This way, we’re going to reduce some of the opportunities for theft during the summer, when our population on campus is so low and the bicycle thefts really stand out.” 

Since several bikes went unclaimed last summer and were donated back to the community, the program was scaled back both to gauge interest and because of space limitations on short notice, according to Howald.

“It wasn’t officially decided to restart the program until early April,” he said. “After that we had to figure out the exact size and shape and figure out where to store bikes. Those decisions weren’t finalized until May.” 

Recent UO graduate Jack Skidmore had his bike stolen four times while at UO. Skidmore never reported these thefts because he figured it was a “lost cause,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone who has gotten their bike stolen in Eugene and got it back from doing a police report.” 

Since his last bike was stolen, he hasn’t bought another. Instead, he uses PeaceHealth rental bikes, which allow students to rent and return bikes at hubs across Eugene and Springfield. 

“I don’t think there’s a lot of attention to bike theft from local authorities,” Skidmore said. “They could do more to ensure it doesn’t happen, especially on a campus where bikes are part of students’ livelihoods.” 

Investing in new technology  

One of the main anti-theft initiatives UOPD is currently focusing on is “bait bike” — a sting operation designed to catch bike thieves — which they experimented with in 2020 but ultimately didn’t end up implementing any bikes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing issues. While they are continuing to work on technology, according to Chief Wade, UOPD is still working through contracts to get the technology set up for tracking bait bikes. 

“We’ll have a bicycle of the appropriate style, type and attractiveness to thieves positioned somewhere on our campus mixed in with other bicycles, secured like any other, but with transmitters and tracking technology,” he said. 

If stolen, UOPD will be able to track the bicycle’s location in real time, enabling officers to catch suspects in the act, recover the bike and see where they take it to potentially locate additional stolen property.

When fall term resumes, UOPD plans to have the program “up and running” and set up the bikes near hotspots on campus based upon crime data from previous years. 

UOPD is also currently looking into enhanced camera technology in collaboration with UO Housing to identify various cages on campus and high populated areas for bikes. 

With around 10 identified “hotspots on campus,” UOPD plans to activate extra detection software in the surrounding cameras, near bike cages for instance, which can detect the difference in motions between unlocking a lock and cutting a lock. 

“What this software does is it highlights certain hours of the day when someone goes into the cages, and we’re particularly looking at those after hours thefts,” Chief Wade said. “Because we have so many cameras on campus, we can’t watch all of them all the time, but it’ll bring attention to one on the big screen.” 

Due to limited funding, UOPD is still working to implement the software to ensure they “get the best results for the best amount of money,” Chief Wade said. 

Another way students can protect their bikes is by adding a tracking device. 

Howald said the electric bike owner had hidden an Apple AirTag in a compartment, which helped track it. He also said that using tracking devices can go “a long way” toward recovering stolen property.

Collaborating with the community 

On March 5, on the corner of East 15th Avenue and Agate Street in front of Hayward Field, UOPD launched “Cut the Cable,” a bike lock upgrade program that partnered with ABUS locks, UO Transportation Services and Project 529 — a bike retrieval service — to provide students on campus with brand new U-style Kryptonite locks. 

For two hours, students on campus could bike by and UOPD officers would show them just how quick and easy it was to cut their cable locks with bolt cutters, Chief Wade said. 

“Once we cut their lock, they had to sign up for the UO 529 project or show that their bike was registered, and then we showed them how it works,” he said. “After that, we would give them the bike theft prevention lock.” 

UOPD hopes to host another Cut the Cable program during fall term. The current goal, according to Chief Wade, is to work together, specifically with UO Transportation Services to reinforce and protect bike cages. 

“To me, the best answer is to protect the physical barriers the most that we can,” he said. “We’re advocating to reduce the small individual bike racks out there, or secure interior bike cages for outside bike cages, so we can centralize them and protect them better.” 

Despite UOPD’s long standing theft prevention efforts such as “No Bike Left Behind,” and Project 529, the rise in bike thefts on campus have not declined in 2024, and continue to increase. 

Chief Wade advises students to get a bike for the right reasons. “Make sure that you need a bike, and it’s useful,” he said. “Put a little thought into it, think about where you’re parking it, where you’re locking it up, how long it’s there and how nice it is.” 

He said the best theft prevention is to use interior spaces or utilize PeaceHealth rental bikes.

“Blue bikes are great because they’re not yours to get stolen, and they’re everywhere,” he said.

Students can also rent bikes through the UO’s Bike Program, which operates under the larger Outdoor Program located in the Erb Memorial Union. The program also offers free do-it-yourself classes, bike maintenance, rides and campus biking information.

Each rental bike is registered under Project 529 and includes a Kryptonite U-lock and  4-foot cable free of charge, Bike Program manager Logan Devack said. 

Another security measure the program offers is educating students about potential thefts and how to effectively secure their bikes. 

“Our staff makes sure to educate each renter on the proper way to lock the rental bike to deter any would-be bike thieves,” Devack said. 

Bike locking and security recommendations are a “constant topic” at the program DIY shop, he said. 

When asked whether students frequently seek advice about preventing bike theft, Devack said, “They do. Unfortunately, those questions usually come after they’ve already had their whole bike stolen.”

Prior to 2020, the Bike Program has focused on prevention by offering free lights through its  “Bike Lights, Not Citations” program in collaboration with UOPD. Devack said the program has had little interaction with UOPD since. 

“I am still pursuing opportunities for us to have a closer relationship to help our students reclaim any stolen bikes or equipment,” Devack said. “The first step is always getting people educated.” 

Some improvements Devack hopes to see implemented on campus include a “purpose-built bicycle garage in the heart of campus.”

“A bicycle garage would allow a nice, covered and centralized “short-term” parking for all students, faculty and staff as well as have facilities for longer-term storage of “specialty” bikes that our UO community may not want to be commuting on back and forth to class, work or the Bike Program DIY Shop,” he said. 

He said many new and prospective students often ask if they should bring their “$4500 full-suspension mountain bike” to campus, given Oregon’s trail access, but due to most bike and parking storage in UO dorms being “sub-par” he often discourages students against it.