MyBike database recovered 150 stolen bikes in a year

One year after the launch of the MyBike national bicycle identification register, the service has helped recover 150 stolen bicycles.

This amounts to 14.5% of the bicycles reported stolen on the platform, Belgium's federal mobility ministry announced.

A total of 75,057 bicycles have been registered on the portal, which was developed by the federal government and the three regions, and launched just on 23 April 2024.

A similar system already existed in the Brussels region - but the MyBike platform is particularly popular in Flanders, with 54,850 bikes registered, compared to 13,276 in Wallonia and 6,931 in Brussels.

The platform is primarily intended to combat theft and the selling of stolen goods, while increasing the chances of recovering a bicycle in the event of theft. Police and judicial authorities have access to the register.

The platform allows users to register their bicycles free of charge using a unique identification sticker, which works for both new and second-hand bicycles.

“Of the 1,031 stolen bikes registered on MyBike, 150 have already been returned to their owners,” the mobility ministry said.

“This represents 14.55% of the stolen bikes registered on the platform, which is 3.5 times more than when bikes are not registered on MyBike.”

The MyBike sticker itself has a preventive effect, in that it is likely to deter potential thieves. It is estimated that about 100,000 bikes are stolen in Belgium every year.