Joey Garrison

jgarrison@tennessean.com

Nashville has taken action to stop bars-on-wheels known as pedal taverns as well as low-speed vehicles that resemble golf carts from operating during peak traffic hours in the morning and early evening.

The move comes as Metro also has taken a timeout from approving additional such vehicles, which have become a common sight on downtown roads amid Nashville’s tourism explosion.

The Metro Transportation Licensing Commission on Thursday voted 5-0 to restrict pedal taverns, pedicabs and other pedal carriages as well as low-speed vehicles from operating between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Nashvillians have frequently complained that pedal taverns and golf-cart-style passenger vehicles have added to traffic congestion downtown, the only area in Nashville where these vehicles are allowed to operate. The commission was granted a new authority to regulate hours of pedal taverns, pedicabs and pedal carriages after approval of a Metro Council ordinance in January.

Metro Council takes step toward restricting pedal tavern hours

Metro Transportation Licensing Director Billy Fields said the commission decided to restrict hours to respond to traffic and safety concerns.

“That was the primary reason — making sure that people can move safely and that people don’t try to swerve around them to move in traffic,” Fields said.

The new policy will take effect after the commission's next meeting in November.

Pedal taverns — bicycle-powered vehicles in which passengers consume alcohol as they pedal — have found a huge audience in Nashville after launching here in 2010. They've become a go-to entertainment option for bachelorette and bachelor parties in particular.

A new study commissioned by Metro and conducted by RPM Transportation Consultants found that it takes pedal taverns four times as long to make left turns and travel through intersections than traditional motor vehicles. The average speed of low-speed vehicles is 23 percent to 45 percent lower than motor vehicles.

One recommendation in the study called for capping the number that could operate during peak morning and afternoon hours. But the commission did not adopt that policy.

Brian Gleason, operations manager of Nashville Pedal Tavern, the city's original and largest pedal tavern company, expressed "shock" with the new restrictions. He argued that the commission went beyond what the report recommended by banning pedal taverns during the peak hours as opposed to simply capping them. He said pedal taverns account for less than 2 percent of downtown traffic during affected hours.

Gleason said his company will probably have to pursue layoffs to make up the lost revenue.

Nashville Pedal Tavern eyes adding bikes for downtown routes

"It's going to be a huge hit to our company," Gleason said. "We employ over 30 people in our company alone, and the times they are talking about will affect 41 percent of our business.

"We're a very easy target," he said, adding that his company has welcomed a cap on permits but not the "all-or-nothing" hours of operation rules. "We basically started this industry and didn't really have any issues or backlash until copycat companies came in. It's been a real struggle to keep our reputation and our standards when other companies are out there not doing the same."

The vote does not affect other party vehicles that incorporate alcohol such as Off the Wagon Tours, a party wagon company that uses a large green tractor to take patrons around downtown. According to Fields, the commission does not have power to regulate these and other vehicles that carry more than 14 people such as limousines and sight-seeing tour buses.

Pedal taverns are a booming business in Nashville. That was on display Thursday, when the licensing commission took up and rejected requests for 35 individual new pedal vehicle permits from a total of nine companies, representing pedal tavern concepts and traditional pedicabs. Six of the companies sought to begin business in Nashville, including American Bad Ass Pedal Bar and Nashville Bar Bike.

The licensing commission also rejected 24 requests for low-speed vehicle permits, including permit requests from Joyride Nashville.

Nashville allows 56 pedal vehicles, 19 of which are authorized as pedal taverns across three companies: Nashville Pedal Tavern, Sprocket Rocket and Music City Crawler.

“At this point, there’s so much going on downtown between construction, normal congestion and then what’s already on the street,” Fields said. “I think the commission recognized that putting any additional (pedal and low-speed vehicles) on the street would really be challenging.”

Fields pointed to a new mobility study that Metro is undertaking that will explore the city’s increased traffic activity downtown. He said the commission may consider further restricting which streets pedal taverns can operate on.

Sal Hernandez, a Nashville attorney who serves as chairman of the transportation licensing commission, which also regulates taxis, pointed to the recent traffic study, saying it made clear "these vehicles are having an impact."

"That certainly went into the decision not to grant additional permits, and we went ahead and decided to restrict hours during peak times," he said.

Hernandez said similarly sized cities also have restricted hours and that interim Metro Public Works Director Mark Sturtevant, a recent appointee of Mayor Megan Barry, also had recommended the restricted hours.

"This was not an easy decision," Hernandez said. "We certainly understood the tension between wanting to support our slow-moving vehicle companies but also wanting to address our concerns, which is public safety first and foremost, but also the needs of the community as a whole."

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.