Tracking stolen bikes in Amsterdam

Journal Article (2023)
Authors

T. Venverloo (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Transport and Planning)

Fábio Duarte (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Tom Benson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Pietro Leoni (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

SP Hoogendoorn (TU Delft - Transport and Planning)

Carlo Ratti (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Affiliation
Transport and Planning
Copyright
© 2023 T. Venverloo, Fábio Duarte, Tom Benson, Pietro Leoni, S.P. Hoogendoorn, Carlo Ratti
To reference this document use:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279906
More Info
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Publication Year
2023
Language
English
Copyright
© 2023 T. Venverloo, Fábio Duarte, Tom Benson, Pietro Leoni, S.P. Hoogendoorn, Carlo Ratti
Affiliation
Transport and Planning
Issue number
2
Volume number
18
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279906
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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.