From RM on 9/24/14:
“About two weeks ago my husband’s bike was stolen off the front of a TriMet bus. It was not taken by another rider. It was taken by a random person on the street who ran up to the bus, grabbed his bike and rode off. The driver alerted our friend, who had borrowed the bike but by the time she got off the bus the thief could not be caught. I contacted TriMet and got a weak sorry from them but no hint that they could or would compensate us for the loss. The person I spoke to said, “it’s public transit,” like that somehow made it all go away. From what I understand, this type of thing is a rarity and I would think that TriMet’s Risk department or some such would have a way to compensate (even a small amount) for the loss of something that was put in their care while someone is riding the bus. I’ve made a report to the police but am not holding my breath for a result. Our homeowner’s policy has a deductible greater than the value of the bike. I don’t know if you have any suggestions or influence in a matter of this sort, but any input or help would be greatly appreciated.”
— Read more Bike Theft Chronicles
Your expectations of Trimet, RM, seem entirely reasonable. I hope you will share with us what you hear from them. Brazen is hardly an adequate term.
Put your bike in it’s highest gear before loading it. Keep a bungie for wrapping around the bike and bus rack. If they give you crap about it, wrap it through the spokes and rear frame triangle before the bus comes. It will slow and confound drug addled bike theives, maybe. Or trip them in traffic.
Lock a wheel of the bike to the bike’s frame. A thief can take if off the rack, but they can’t ride it away. And you can still take it off the bus rack quickly at your destination without delaying other bus riders.
The Dutch style frame locks are nice for this type of quick locking. (Clever Cycles sells this type of lock by AXA, Basta, Trelock, etc.)
Small claims court is an option too.
my insurance company waived my deductible on the last theft claim I filed with them because the claim value was so low…
I didn’t get the full replacement value of my item, but I also didn’t have to pay to get them to give me $1000…