TLC approves limited Lime "glider" pilot; staff to seek ridership ZIP-code data where legal

The Transportation Licensing Commission voted to approve a limited pilot allowing Lime to operate seated ‘‘glider’’ vehicles in Nashville, replacing 50 downtown scooters and staging 50 additional gliders at selected WeGo bus stops outside downtown. Commissioners directed staff and Lime to work together to provide as much non-identifying ridership data (including ZIP-code billing data if legally available) as possible and to present results at the end of the pilot.

The pilot, described by staff as a first- and last-mile test, will not increase the downtown fleet size: staff said 50 downtown standing scooters would be replaced by 50 gliders and 50 more gliders would be staged at bus stops outside the downtown geofence. Robert Johnson, transit planner with WeGo, told the commission that staging at bus stops will require coordination to avoid impeding wheelchair access and that WeGo will monitor impact on bus-stop geometry and passenger movements.

Lime representative Lily Krause explained how the company’s app-based geofencing and pricing would work: if a rider begins or ends a trip within a geo-fenced radius of a designated transit stop, the Lime app would automatically apply a 70% discount for that first- or last-mile leg. "The app is geo-fenced whereby if you're opening the app within the locate a radius of that transit... the price will be automatically reflected, to be 70% off," Krause said.

Commissioners pressed staff and Lime on operational details including where the off-downtown vehicles would be staged, how the company would prevent vehicles from migrating downtown, and whether corrals or signage would be in place at bus stops. TD (staff) said Lime’s internal systems create automatic relocation tasks when downtown vehicle counts exceed thresholds and that field moves are generally completed within about 30 minutes. Robert Johnson and staff said corrals and painted staging areas would be considered, but timelines depend on INDOT funding and right-of-way constraints.

On data sharing, commissioners asked for ZIP-code billing data to better understand whether rides primarily serve Nashvillians or tourists. Lime said some payment methods (for example, Apple Pay) and privacy rules limit the ability to deliver precise billing ZIP codes, but offered survey data and agreed to provide "as much data as we can provide" within legal limits. The motion that passed asked Lime and staff to pursue ZIP-code or comparable ridership data to the extent legally and operationally possible and to report findings when the pilot ends in December.

The commission approved the pilot during the meeting after an amended motion requiring staff follow-up on data availability and operational coordination. Staff will present pilot results and any recommended contract or rule changes at the commission’s December meeting.