The UW Police Department is trialing the idea of a free bike valet service at UW Station this week in an attempt to help fight bike theft and get more bikes registered on the free bicycle database Bike Index. You do not need to be a UW student or staff to participate.

The valet will be staffed 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday this week only, and they will have computers ready to help you register your bike online if you have not done so already.

There is only space in the pilot service for 100 bikes, so you may need to get there early to take advantage of the service. They’ll be set up just north of the station in front of Husky Stadium.

UW Station’s location just off the Burke-Gilman Trail has made it a major bike-to-transit connection. Bike racks filled up immediately after opening as people from all over northeast and north-central Seattle realized that biking to the train is the easiest and often fastest way to get around. Sound Transit has since added more bike parking to help with the crunch, but the station could be a good place for something a bit more organized. UW already offers a bike valet service to handle the influx of bikes during home games at Husky Stadium.

Bike Index is a non-profit, nationwide database of bikes. It’s primary use is to serve as a one-stop shop for locating stolen bike listings. But very often, people have no record of their bike’s serial number and other identifying information. So Bike Index encourages people to register their bikes now. Then, if it is unfortunately stolen later, the details are all recorded and ready for you to post them quickly. The quicker a listing is posted and the more accurate its details, the more likely you are to get your bike back if police, a bike shop or a helpful community member finds it.

Bike Index powers Seattle Bike Blog’s stolen bike listings.

More details from the event page: (more…)