For the second time in as many months, the Joyride Nashville golf cart taxi service has been suspended for operating outside the downtown area.
The Metro Transportation Licensing Commission issued the order Thursday, less than one month after Joyride was found to have violated the same offense.
On July 30, a passerby snapped a photo of a Joyride golf cart carrying passengers down Broadway at 16th Ave S, well outside the boundaries set by the commission. The photo was taken just two days after the commission leveled the first suspension against Joyride.
Joyride’s original 10-day suspension was set to begin on Monday, and the commission ordered that the company will serve its second suspension concurrently with the first, meaning it will not incur any additional days out of business.
The commission made the decision for the suspensions to run concurrently in part because Chris Sizemore, the founder of the golf cart taxi service, told the commission that he has installed GPS equipment and other measures to ensure that drivers remain in the allowed area.
Sizemore said now when a cart leaves a pre-defined “geo-fence,” managers are instantly alerted. Typically, drivers are promptly terminated for driving outside allowable areas, Sizemore told the commission.
In addition to the 10-day suspension, the commission had earlier decided to put Joyride on probation until July.
The suspension came the same day that the commission voted to turn down requests from six party bike and pedal cab companies for new or additional operating permits.
The commission cited safety concerns in its decision, as well as the need to enforce the rules on the number of party bikes already downtown.
