On average, someone has stolen one bike per month at AU for the last year, according to Public Safety statistics.
Between Nov. 11, 2007, and Nov. 11, 2008, 12 bikes were stolen, with higher than average numbers reported in March and October.
Lt. Rima Sifri, the crime prevention coordinator for AU Public Safety, said she recommends cyclists lock the frame and front wheel of their bikes with heavy duty chains or U-shaped locks, keep a copy of the receipt and engrave a unique and identifiable marking on the bike.
Ryan Bodge, director of AU's Bike Share and president of the university's club cycling team, said his team addresses their concerns about theft in a different way.
"We generally keep our bikes in our rooms and in safe places to avoid theft," he said.
Jennifer Hoefler, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said she keeps her bike in her room but has recently lobbied university officials to install indoor bike racks.
"I have a lock, which I use, but I am not comfortable leaving my bike outside as its permanent home," she said. "Rain and dampness will rust the mechanisms and damage the gears. Changes in temperature are not good for tire pressure. It is not safe to ride on poorly inflated tires; it is not safe to ride on a weather, or human-hand-compromised bicycle."
Despite the statistics, AU bike racks - as well as campus banisters, road signs, light posts and trees - are overflowing with bicycles this year.
Hoefler said her motive for bringing her bike to school was to feel more connected to the city.
"After freshman year, I felt too isolated on the island that is campus," she said. "I enjoy exploring the neighborhoods and getting fresh air. I visit my friends who live off campus, I go to the grocery store; I use my bike for everything."
Bikes are permitted on the Metrorail during non-peak hours and weekends as long as bikers use the elevators and the first or last doors on each car, according to WMATA's Web site.
Student groups on campus are also trying to encourage bike use.
Casey Roe, a member of Eco-Sense and senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Public Affairs, said she encourages people to use bike riding as an environmentally friendly method of reducing individuals' carbon dioxide emissions. Eco-Sense has actively supported the biker boom by presenting a new transportation policy that called for a bike sharing program, more bike racks and bike lockers among other changes.
"The more biker-presence on campus and in the city, the stronger the voice for biking infrastructure - such as bike lanes, lockers and racks," said Roe.
The AU Student Government's bike-lending program is one example of new biking infrastructure that offers an opportunity for students who do not have bikes to use one.
The increased presence of bike racks on Metrobuses and the new Bike Smart program across D.C. are recent developments in biking infrastructure available to D.C. bikers.
When taking advantage of the city's bike lanes, Sifri said bike riders should wear helmets, remain alert and follow all traffic laws for their safety and that of those around them.
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