The number of cars being stolen in B.C. has plunged 45 per cent since 2003, when the bait car program was started.
The drop was even bigger - 61 per cent - in Greater Vancouver, and the government credits not only bait cars, but other police work and the increased use of engine immobilizers.
Outside the Vancouver area, auto theft dropped 47 per cent in the Fraser Valley and 7 per cent in the north, but theft rates are heading up in the southern Interior, with an 11-per-cent jump from last year.
On Vancouver Island, auto thefts are up 31 per cent from 2003 but down 20 per cent from last year.