Nashville Launches Bike Share Program
Nashville is growing its options for those who prefer two wheels to four.
By spring 2011, the city's pilot bike share program of 30 bikes in two locations will expand to thousands of bikes citywide.
Today, there are two pilot bike stations — one at Shelby Bottoms in East Nashville and one at the Music City Star riverfront train station on First Avenue South — where any Davidson County resident can take a bright yellow and blue one-speed bike out for a spin.
Future bike share stands will be located in areas where the city thinks they will be of the most use, such as around college campuses and near greenways.
Here's how it works: An attendant takes down the cyclists' driver's license information, provides them with a helmet if they don't have one, and sends them on their way with a map of the city's bike paths, bike lanes and suggested cycling routes.
Nashville officials are in the process of locating a company that will run the citywide program — the plan is for a series of automated solar-powered bike racks around town that participants could access with a swipe of a card once they registered for the program.
It's a $300,000 start, paid for from a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. The hope is to keep the citywide version of the bike share program free, or as inexpensive as possible.
