Tracking stolen bikes in Amsterdam

PLoS One. 2023 Feb 15;18(2):e0279906. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279906. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Crime has major influences in urban life, from migration and mobility patterns, to housing prices and neighborhood liveability. However, urban crime studies still largely rely on static data reported by the various institutions and organizations dedicated to urban safety. In this paper, we demonstrate how the use of digital technologies enables the fine-grained analysis of specific crimes over time and space. This paper leverages the rise of ubiquitous sensing to investigate the issue of bike theft in Amsterdam-a city with a dominant cycling culture, where reportedly more than 80,000 bikes are stolen every year. We use active location tracking to unveil where stolen bikes travel to and what their temporal patterns are. This is the first study using tracking technologies to focus on two critical aspects of contemporary cities: active mobility and urban crime.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bicycling*
  • Cities
  • Crime
  • Housing
  • Theft*

Grants and funding

The research was funded by the Municipality of Amsterdam and the Transport Institute of the Delft University of Technology. We also thank FAE Technology, MipMap, Samoo Architects & Engineers, GoAigua, DAR Group, Ordinance Survey, RATP, Anas S.p.A., ENEL Foundation, the AMS Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, the cities of Helsingborg, Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Laval, and Stockholm, and all other members of MIT Senseable City Laboratory Consortium for supporting this research. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.