More Riders Wanted In Metro Bike Share Program

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010, by Anne Marshall

A new program allowing Davidson County residents to borrrow bicycles to ride is supposed to make Nashville healthier, but reaching that goal will require a lot more pedaling.

The program started on a small scale with only thirty bikes and two rental locations – downtown and Shelby Bottoms Park. Over the last three months about 150 people rode the bikes. That’s the number organizers say they expected.

The bike share program is funded through a two-year grant focused on getting Nashvillians eating better and moving more.

Mayor Karl Dean says unfortunately money can’t buy participation and that’s needed, especially given Tennessee’s high rates of adult and childhood obesity.

“When you are sixth from the bottom in terms of children’s health as far as obesity you got to step up the game and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

In Davidson County, it’s estimated close to 40-percent of children are overweight or obese.

The grant that paid for the bike share program totaled $7.5 million. Because it was created through stimulus funds, most of it is going towards forty full and part time jobs. Those workers market bike sharing, form community gardens, and help create school and workplace wellness programs.

Come March, as many as two hundred bikes should be stationed all over Nashville.