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The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) and Micromobility Providers Bird, Lime, and Spin are partnering on Nashville's first e-bike pilot program that was launched this morning at Geodis Park. The pilot program includes areas of North, West, and South Nashville around downtown. Companies will utilize geofencing technology to ensure bikes remain in pilot areas. Additionally, the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) has recently installed 24 new bike racks in the right-of-way to encourage responsible use of the dockless technology. The department will be working with companies to educate users about bike rack locations and promote the return of e-bikes to designated areas utilizing geofencing.

"We’re extremely excited about bringing dockless e-bikes to Nashville in a safe and responsible way," said Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) Director Diana Alarcon. "Our goal as a department and city should be to offer a truly multimodal network that prioritizes the most vulnerable roadway users—including people riding bikes, and that's why we’re committed to quickly and dramatically expanding Nashville's bikeways network. We believe that by embracing dockless e-bike technology, we can start to change the way people think about their commutes."

Metro Council District 17 Member Colby Sledge has championed the pilot program along with some of his colleagues, as well as Transportation Licensing Commissioner Carey Rogers. Both have worked to promote dockless e-bikes as a viable alternative to cars.

"Dockless e-bikes can help Nashvillians make short trips, like meeting up with friends or heading to a Nashville SC game, without getting in a car," said Council Member Sledge. "With the investments we’re making in bike infrastructure, including new bike racks and protected bike lanes, dockless e-bikes will provide Nashvillians the freedom to enjoy our neighborhoods in a whole new way."

Micromobility companies Bird, Lime, and Spin will each begin the pilot with 25 dockless e-bikes for a total of 75 bikes in the pilot area. The companies will work with the city to address any issues that emerge as the multi-month pilot period progresses. During the pilot time, data will be captured and assessed to determine ways to enhance dockless e-bike implementation across Nashville. The pilot area was developed to exclude downtown while the Connect Downtown study continues. Recommendations from that study are expected in early Spring of 2023, and next steps for the program will be determined at that time.

"We couldn't be more excited to be a part of bringing a new mobility solution to Nashvillians with our participation in the E-bike Pilot Program," said Tim Wilcox, Spin Government Partnerships Manager for the East. "We are focused on making it just as easy for people to move around cities via multimodal transportation as it is with a personal vehicle. This program is an important next step in making this a reality. We would like to thank the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT), the Metro Council, and Metro Transportation Licensing Commission (MTLC) for their vision and leadership in this space. It is clear the city of Nashville shares the same vision as we do for a sustainable future of urban transportation."

"We’re thrilled to be going multimodal in Nashville, one of our biggest and best cities in the country," said Kyle Shoemaker, Operations Manager at Lime. "We have worked with the City, the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT), and with our community partners to build a safe, reliable, and sustainable e-scooter program here and we can't wait to see how Nashvillians take to our e-bikes. We’re bringing our new, industry leading Gen4 e-bikes here and we think riders will love them. Thank you to the City of Nashville, the Metro Council, and the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) for your commitment to building a safe and sustainable transportation network here by adding more and more micromobility options and the transit infrastructure to support them. We look forward to working with you to make this pilot a major success and to potentially build on its success with expansion in the future."

"Since first launching in Nashville, we've seen how valuable micromobility is for both residents and visitors and this dockless e-bike program will provide riders with even more options," said Adam Davis, Senior Manager of Government Partnerships with Bird. "With Bird, people are able to access affordable, reliable, and sustainable transportation for commuting, running errands, supporting local businesses, and more, while reducing dependence on cars. We're thrilled to work with the City of Nashville on this effort and thank the Department of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure for their partnership throughout the process."

Learn more about the pilot program

Learn more about the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT)

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Bird is an electric vehicle company dedicated to bringing affordable, environmentally friendly transportation solutions such as e-scooters and e-bikes to communities across the world. Founded in 2017 by transportation pioneer Travis VanderZanden, Bird is rapidly expanding. Today, it provides fleets of shared micro electric vehicles to riders in more than 450 cities globally and makes its products available for purchase at www.bird.co and via leading retailers and distribution partners. Bird partners closely with the cities in which it operates to provide a reliable and affordable transportation option for people who live and work there.

Lime's mission is to realize a future for transportation that is shared, electric and carbon-free. As the world's leading provider of shared electric vehicles, Lime partners with cities to deploy electric bikes, scooters and mopeds to serve any trip under five miles. One of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Companies in 2021, Lime has powered more than 375 million rides in nearly 250 cities across five continents, spurring a new generation of clean alternatives to car ownership. Learn more at li.me

We’re reimagining the way people and cities flow. After joining forces with TIER, we are now the #1 global micromobility player -- committed to being the best possible partner for cities while building the safest, most equitable, and most sustainable mobility solution for the communities we serve.