Students missing their bicycles may find luck in a new Web site developed by a UA alumnus, aimed to help students find their stolen bicycles.

Bryan Hance, an applications systems analyst at Arizona Student Media, developed the free site www.stolenbicycleregistry.com, which allows victims of theft to register and track their stolen bicycle, Hance said.

"It's 100 percent free for everybody, both to register and search," Hance said.

Hance said he got the idea for the site after he became a victim of bicycle theft himself.

"I started this about a month ago after having my fifth bike stolen," Hance said.

Hance said his bicycle was locked in front of the Park Student Union, equipped with a special Kryptonite lock. But the lock did not help and his bicycle was stolen.

"So there I was, pissed off and out yet another $400 bike, thinking about the whole problem," Hance said.

Hance said he thought about contacting the police or registering his bike for $10 on the National Bicycle Registry, but decided against it.

"I saw the lack of a free full-featured registry and easy searching methods for the general public," Hance said. "So I sat down and created one with all sorts of helpful features."

Sgt. Kerry Fuller from the Tucson Police Department said the Web site is a terrific idea, but it is also important students contact the police when their bike is stolen.

"If somebody is doing a Web site (like that), that would be great," Fuller said. "That's another way to register your bike."

So far, 15 people have registered their bicycles on the newly formed site, Hance said, and he expects more to follow.

The number stolen bicycles and victims of bike theft is indeed staggering.

According to a study conducted in 1994 by Integrated Cycle Systems, a manufacturer of bike locks and lock enhancements, a four-year college student has a 53 percent chance of having his or her bike stolen.

The study also found that bike theft increased by 59.6 percent from 1989 to 1993.

According to the TPD's crime statistics Web site, there have been 245 reported stolen bicycles this year alone.

In 2004, there were 810 reported stolen bicycles, according to the site.

Hance said he has an idea where the stolen bicycles end up.

"Around here, a lot of them get resold real quick for crack or meth," Hance said.

Hance also said he thinks bicycles are sometimes stolen for parts.

"Some of them get chopped up, parted out," Hance said. "For example, if you search eBay for front bike shocks, you'll find some of them that explicitly say, 'no serial number' or 'serial number has been removed.' That kind of screams stolen," Hance said

Hance said his site features an "SMS gateway," which lets people text message the site's server via cell phone to run a bike's serial number.

"When they do, they get a response back like 'Not Listed,' 'Listed,' 'Not Stolen' or 'Stolen,'" Hance said. "If it is stolen, they also get contact info for the owner and any reward info."

Hance said the gateway feature, in essence, turns anyone with a cell phone into a potential bike bounty hunter, allowing students and bike shops to text a bike's serial number to the server and find out the bike's ownership status.

Patti Kelsey, a history freshman who had her bike stolen, said the site can be a good resource for students who want to do more than just report their stolen bike.

"It may be helpful to those unfortunate souls that get swindled by those Sixth Street thugs," Kelsey joked.

Jereme Bintz, a political science senior and a student cart driver with Parking and Transportation Services, said one of the problems with bicycle theft is the amount of money students spend on their bikes.

"Students shouldn't use expensive bikes on campus," Bintz said. "It is a shame that it is that way, but bike theft is just too high."

Charles J. Franz, the program coordinator of alternative transportation at PTS, said it is also possible that students merely had their bike impounded rather than stolen.

"The person would also want to contact Parking and Transportation Services at 626-RIDE if their bike was missing to ensure it was not impounded for some reason," Franz said. "This should be done only after contacting UAPD first, as in most cases if the bike is missing, it was stolen."

Fuller said the most important thing for students to do with their bike is to be sure and keep the serial number and contact police if it gets stolen.

"Most bicycles come with a serial number, and if you can keep that serial number tucked away somewhere in the event that your bike is stolen you have a number that you can refer back to," Fuller said.

Fuller also said students should take special precautions to avoid becoming a victim of bike theft.

"Keep the number handy, use a good lock, be careful where you park your bike and make sure you have it locked up," Fuller said. "Don't be an opportunity to be a target."