Nashville launches dockless e-bike pilot program

The pilot program includes areas north, west, and south of downtown.

Nashville's new e-bike pilot program launched this week.

The e-bikes are operated by Bird, Lime, and Spin. | Photo by NASHtoday

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Get ready to ride. Nashville’s first dockless e-bike pilot program is now live.

The Nashville Department of Transportation has launched a fleet of 75 rentable e-bikes by micromobility companies Bird, Lime, and Spin. Each company will oversee 25 e-bikes in the pilot area.

Where can I ride?

The pilot program includes areas north, west, and south of downtown. Look out for 24 new bike racks located on 12th Avenue South, West End Avenue, and other streets (see the map below). The three companies will utilize geofencing technology to ensure bikes remain in pilot areas.

In the coming months, NDOT will assess the data collected by Bird, Lime, and Spin to determine ways to enhance and possibly expand dockless e-bikes across Nashville.

EBike_Pilot_Map_NASH_Dec2022.png

A view of the e-bike pilot program area. | Map via NDOT

Where can’t I ride?

The pilot area excludes downtown while the Connect Downtown study is underway through early spring. Areas like East Nashville and the Gulch are also excluded, though NDOT Director Diana Alarcon said future expansion is possible.

What they’re saying

“We’re particularly proud that our data shows that Nashville has one of the highest local riderships in the nation. With that, we couldn’t be more excited to bring a new mobility solution to Nashvillians… we’re focused on making it just as easy for people to move around cities via multimodal transportation as it is with a personal vehicle.” — Tim Wilcox, government partnerships manager (East), Spin

“Lime has been responsible for 375 million rides in over 250 cities, and 2.25 million of those rides have taken place in Nashville. E-bike ridership really boomed during the pandemic, and we’re happy to see that the trend is here to stay and Nashville is embracing it.” — Kyle Shoemaker, operations manager, Lime