Winnipeg bike registrations are picking up speed now that owners can register bikes online.

Typically around 1,000 bikes are registered in the city every year, said Winston Yee, community bylaw enforcement manager. Since the introduction of the online system in 2018, about 3,000 bikes have been registered.

"We've had a better result in terms of people entering their information," Yee told the parks and community services committee Thursday.

For $6.70, owners can register the serial numbers on their bicycle frames with the city. The registry helps Winnipeg police reunite recovered bikes with rightful owners.

Stores like Bikes and Beyond and Natural Cycle now provide information about the registry right at the point of sale.

"We tell them to register with the city," said Zach Allard, co-owner of Natural Cycle. "It's like really simple. You just go on the website and you write down the serial number."

Natural Cycle also takes a photograph of each bike sold, so if it's ever taken, the store can supply owners with information about the make, model, colour and any extra, add-on features.

It's an attempt to curtail what Allard calls the epidemic of bike theft in Winnipeg.

"The reason these people can steal these bikes is they can typically get away with it," he said.

Winnipeg police estimate 3,000 bikes are stolen every year in Winnipeg.

On April 27 and 28 the service is holding its annual bike auction, where approximately 750 recovered bikes will be sold. For the first time, all adult bikes at the auction will be pre-registered.