A fleet of 75 rentable, dockless electric bikes will roll onto select Nashville streets this fall as part of a new pilot program.
The e-bikes feature a small motor that boosts riders' pedal power, allowing users to traverse hills with more ease.
The program could launch as soon as next month. The initial zone will cover portions of South Nashville, Berry Hill, Wedgewood-Houston, Midtown, Sylvan Park, the Nations and North Nashville below the Cumberland River.
The Gulch and downtown Nashville inside the interstate loop will be excluded as the area undergoes the final weeks of a transportation study. The zone may extend through downtown once the study is complete, depending on the e-bike program's success.
Users will be required to deposit the e-bikes at any bike rack within the program's boundaries when they conclude their rides. The Nashville Department of Transportation is working to install 35 additional bike racks within the area over the next 30 days.
"The bikes are a little bit bigger, and these are dockless, so we wanted them to go to a safe place where they were not hindering the pedestrian movement," NDOT Director Diana Alarcon said.
NDOT will work with three companies that will each manage 25 e-bikes: Bird, Lime and Spin.
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The consequences for those who do not properly park the bikes after use — an extra fee on top of the rental charge, for example — will be determined in partnership with the participating companies. The companies will also restage the bikes as needed.
The e-bikes will be geofenced so users will be unable to ride them outside of the program's area. The electronic features of the bikes will stop working outside of the boundaries, causing them to eventually come to a stop.
The pilot stage does not have an end date. NDOT and the partnering companies will review progress after the first 90 days and adjust the number of bikes and the service area accordingly.
Alarcon said she believes this program and the existing Nashville BCycle program, which offers electric-assisted bicycles from designated charging docks, will "complement each other."
"A bike sharing program is very essential … and dockless is another way of providing that bike sharing initiative, so we're going to try both and see how they work," she said. "Many cities around the country have both programs."
NDOT is in the process of relocating several BCycle stations that were removed from Metro Parks property last month.
A new BCycle station was recently completed at Edgehill Library. The Nashville Public Library launched a partnership with the company in May to allow library card holders to check out fobs for free rides.