I recently locked my bike to a bus stop pole in front of the Fullerton el station. When I returned the following night, the bike was gone— and my U-bolt sat on the ground, sawed in two.

I reported the theft to the police and to my insurance agency. To be fair, when I returned to the bus stop that night, I saw a sign, a few inches down from the CTA route sign, that I had never seen before (and I had passed by the stop many times): it warned that bikes locked to the pole could be removed.

I e-mailed CTA customer service to ask if it was possible that one of their employees took it. And if so, if it was normal practice to take a bike without leaving a notice.

I asked, too, whether— if that was the case— the CTA recorded the serial numbers of the bikes it took.

An agent quickly wrote back to apologize for the inconvenience, adding, “On occasion, we have bicycles abandoned at racks at CTA stations; we post a note on the rack to give the owner time to claim the bike. However, if no note was ever posted as a warning, then we will forward this information to the responsible General Manager for corrective action.”

I later came across a Web page that said that if a bike were taken quickly, without any warning, it was probably a thief, and not the transit agency.

That was that, I figured; if the CTA had my bike, the serial number would get cross-referenced with the police report, and I’d be notified. 

I bought a new bike, along with the accessories I had lost. Yet I couldn’t get over how someone could saw through a U-bolt lock in front of a 24-hour station with a  security guard— and on a busy thoroughfare, no less.

I did some more searching on the Web and found this on the CTA’s site: “Cyclists are prohibited from securing bicycles to handrails, railings, doors, ramps and stairways, or in any way blocking access to and from stations. Bicycles in violation of these regulations and/or creating a public safety hazard will be tagged and removed without notice. CTA will store these bicycles for 30 days. When in doubt, cyclists should ask CTA Station personnel.”

I went back to the station and asked the agent on duty if it could have been the CTA. Oh, yeah, he said; you shouldn’t lock up your bike to a bus stop pole. (Thanks.)

The Web page also mentioned that cyclists could call a toll-free number or e-mail the Bike and Ride Program Manager directly. So, I e-mailed the program manager, asking if the transit agency catalogued the serial numbers of the bikes they took— and whether they reported them to the police, or to the National Bike Registry.

I never heard back.

I decided to go out to the garage on the West Side where removed bikes are stored. It had taken some doing to find the address online— 3920 W. Maypole Ave., just off Pulaski Rd— but I eventually reached the garage.

They had my bike, and I got it back.

Back to why I’m posting this: I want to petition the CTA, in a respectful way, to start cataloging the serial numbers of bikes it removes. It seems only fair that a police report get cross-referenced with the inventory of a government agency. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.

Can anyone help?

Even with ideas of an advocacy group that could offer assistance?