The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) in Tennessee has plans to run a multi-month dockless electric bike-sharing pilot program. The goal of the pilot program is to evaluate whether shared, dockless e-bikes could become a viable transportation option in the pilot area.
“We’re extremely excited about bringing dockless e-bikes to Nashville in a safe and responsible way,” Nashville Department of Transportation Director Diana Alarcon said. “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.”
NDOT will work with the micro mobility providers Bird, Lime, and Spin on the project – who will each provide 25 dockless e-bikes for the program. They will also be responsible for employing geofencing technology to ensure that the dockless e-bikes stay in the pilot area. NDOT has installed 24 bike racks in the test zones “to encourage responsible use of the dockless technology,” as stated in its press release. The department will be working with the three companies to educate users about bike rack locations and promote the return of e-bikes to designated areas.
“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.”