TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Chapter 10.50, relating to bicycle registration, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On December 14, 2010, the City Council requested the City Manager to report to the City Council in 30 days, the feasibility, costs, and potential benefits of eliminating the bicycle registration requirement and instead moving towards a voluntary registration program.
Currently, the Long Beach Municipal Code (LBMC), Chapter 10.50 governs bicycle registration in the City, with Section 10.50.20 stating: “No person shall ride or propel any bicycle upon any street, alley, park or bicycle path or other public place in the city which is not registered, or for which the appropriate fee has not been paid or which does not bear a bicycle plate as required by the provisions of this chapter.”
Last year, the Police department issued 1,035 citations for lack of bicycle registration, but in every instance that was not the only infraction. Bicycle registration is primarily used to assist the Police Department in returning stolen bicycles to their registered owners. Last year, 980 bicycles were recovered, 220 of which were returned to owners.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Santa Monica and other cities have ended their requirements for bicycle licensing. The reasons cited include a lack of cost-
effectiveness based on fees not covering the cost of administering the program, a high rate of non-compliance due to difficulty purchasing licenses from fire stations or other city facilities, and an uniformed public regarding a rarely enforced section of the California Vehicle Code.
Issuance of Bicycle Licenses
In accordance with LBMC Section 10.50.030, bicycle licenses are issued every Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Since Fire Department personnel are not always available during these times, some residents have had difficulty in purchasing licenses. In...
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