HALIFAX -- Cyclists in the Greater Moncton Area now have a new tool to help protect their bike from thieves.

A new mobile app has been launched in partnership with the Codiac RCMP, which allows Moncton residents to register their bikes.

Cyclists are hopeful that the app is a new way to curb what they say has been an ongoing problem of bicycles disappearing around the Hub City.

Jeff Weldon has had his bike stolen twice in the last year. He says he was able to get it back the first time, but on Wednesday night it was stolen again.

“I was only gone for five minutes, and I came back and the bike was gone,” says Weldon.

Bike shop owner Jim Goguen says hearing about stolen bikes doesn’t surprise him anymore.

“We are seeing probably on average, over 20 thefts a week,” says Goguen.

In an effort to reduce that number, Codiac RCMP have partnered with 529 Garage, a new mobile app designed to help prevent bicycle theft.

“In less than 5 minutes, the 529 Garage app will help you capture the critical information about your bike and establish ownership, helping you maximize your claim with insurance and recovery efforts with police in the event of loss,” claims the app’s website. 

“It’s a joint forces thing, where you download an app, you register your bike, and then you download your serial number into this app, so it goes directly to the RCMP. So if they recover a bike, they can trace it,” explains Goguen.

Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold, an avid cyclist herself, says the problem in the city isn’t new.

“We’ve heard consistently from citizens that they were concerned about bike theft in our community,” says Arnold.

Users can upload photos and descriptions of their bikes to the app’s database – information Arnold says many cyclist may not always have on hand.

“The RCMP tell me they need to have the serial number, they need to be able to prove ownership of the bikes, and I think that’s something we haven’t typically done so well in the community,” says Arnold.

Codiac RCMP say they have recovered about 100 bicycles in the past year.

“Some of those might have been abandoned, some of those might have been stolen but not reported as stolen,” says Cst. Christy Elliot of Codiac RCMP. “That is the number of bicycles that came through our office here.”

There will be a registration clinic for the new app in front of Moncton City Hall on Saturday.