Bird and Lime are already here, Lyft is on the way, and even more electric scooter companies are said to be eyeing Nashville.

But the Metro Council might halt many more from coming.

The council is set to take up an ordinance on a first of three required votes Tuesday that would cap the number of dockless electric scooter companies that could operate in Davidson County at four.

The Metro Transportation Licencing Commission would have to grant special permission on appeal to allow any more scooter operators than four under the bill.

The legislation, sponsored by Councilman Jeremy Elrod, comes as dockless Bird and Lime electric scooters have exploded in and around downtown. Each company is capped at maintaining no more than 1,000 scooters in Nashville — but there's currently no limit on how many companies can operate.

"The companies are coming here fairly fast it appears, so this just puts the brakes on it a little bit, but doesn't totally put a stop to it," Elrod said, noting that companies could still petition the commission to operate.

He called it a "soft cap" because of the flexibility.

The influx of scooters has been a hit for tourists and many downtown workers and residents looking for a quick trip without their car.

But the city has struggled to keep unused scooters from interfering with public rights of way such as sidewalks. The scooters also have presented safety concerns and produced multiple injury collisions with vehicles.

Ordinance also targets underage scooter riders

After Bird and later Lime dropped their scooters in Music City earlier this year, Lyft, the popular ride-hailing company, applied this fall to bring its pink version of electric scooters to Nashville.

Elrod said he's heard "several more" companies are exploring expansions to Nashville.

Why cap the number of scooter companies that can operate in Nashville instead of the number of individual scooters if the idea is to tamp down their proliferation?

Elrod said he's open to other suggestions, but he expressed concern that scooter companies might not see enough profitability in the Nashville market to remain here if more companies were operating with fewer scooters.

"That was my idea," Elrod said of zeroing in on the number of companies. "If other folks have other ideas, I'm open to it."

Under Metro's rules for scooters adopted in the summer, companies have to begin with an allotment of no more than 500 scooters, but they can ramp up to 1,000 after meeting certain criteria that include demonstrating a demand and a history of avoiding violations.

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In addition to the new cap on companies, the bill also would make it unlawful for any minors to use electric scooters.

Minors are already prohibited from riding the devices, but violations lead only to $25 fines that are charged to the company and typically passed down to the user.

Under the ordinance, Elrod said minors would be ticketed and subject to a court appearance if they are found riding electric scooters.

"I really wanted to clamp down on making sure that people who are riding it are the right age," Elrod said, calling it "a step toward improving safety."

"Obviously, we have other issues with them that we're working through," he said. "But with the demand of them and the use of them — they're popular — we need to still figure out how to work them into the city and try to work the kinks out if we can."

Reach Joey Garrison at jgarrison@tennessean.com or 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.