Citycycle - One helmet problem resolved

Last year the Brisbane Times ran an article about how 2/3s of the Citycycle Courtesy helmets that had been placed out had been stolen or lost. At the time I pointed out that is was partly due to two factors in my opinion

1. Helmets are not clearly & permanently Marked as Citycycle Helmets
2. Helmets are not always locked to the bikes.

To the second point for a short period after the Brisbane Times article ran I did note that helmets were being locked to bikes more often with less left in the baskets. However as time as pasted it seams that has slipped back the way it was (as shown by the photo) with one bike I pass having two helmets sitting in it's basket at the moment.

That said the first point seams to of now been resolved. As can be seen from the above photo Citycycle has decided to make the markings on there new helmets more prominent and almost permanent. The first thing is that it stands out now. I have not used Citycycle for months so was not looking at the bikes as such but caught my eye as I walked past a station. This is how it should of been from the get go even with the stickers, catchy!  What is far more important from the outset was that the labelling was permanent and for the most part now it is. The writing and the symbol are embossed in the helmet casing itself. The chances of someone nicking off with one of these helmets has to be greatly reduced.

While I welcome this improvement I have to say it is a little late, bad press from even a paper such as Brisbane Times has to be seen as a wake up call. While I understand doing it to the first 500 helmets put out would of been a waste due to it being a trail, every other helmet after that should of had it done to it, that was over 1000 extra helmets. It would of been plane common sense! Now all we need is for the helmets to be locked correctly, and the staff to enforce it, mind you I wont be holding my breath.