Walk Bike Nashville has paused its popular bus pass program as it conducts conversations with WeGo Public Transit, which the nonprofit advocacy group says imposed an “unexpected price hike.”
Last week, Walk Bike Nashville announced that it would halt its participation in WeGo Ride, a partnership program that allowed the group to offer its members a yearly bus pass for $25. In early August, WeGo told the group it would increase the cost to $50 for a pass, requiring Walk Bike to pay the fee as an upfront cost of more than $39,000 — a $20,000 increase from what the nonprofit's members collectively would typically pay.
Walk Bike said that based on prior conversations with WeGo, it did not expect such an increase. In a social media post on Friday, Walk Bike Nashville officials urged WeGo to examine its approach to the program.
“WeGo must outline specific policies and structures to make the program sustainable for its partners,” reads an Aug. 22 social media post from Walk Bike.
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In response, WeGo posted on its website and social media a statement that was later removed. The agency tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post that the statement still stands as a response.
“It’s a shame that Walk Bike Nashville decided to scare their members with misleading information about our ongoing discussions about their WeGo Ride partnership,” the statement reads.
The WeGo Ride program partners with more than 40 businesses, universities and organizations in Nashville to provide discounted bus passes. The contract for each partner is negotiated individually, with the cost often depending on the number of people utilizing the passes.
WeGo says the price hike for Walk Bike is due to the substantial number of members involved in the program, and that the cost needed to be increased to be fair to all partners. WeGo says the change does not reflect a systemwide increase.
According to WeGo, Walk Bike’s 600-plus members took more than 81,000 bus rides in fiscal year 2025, averaging a cost of $0.18 per trip. WeGo says the figure is less than one-fourth what the average WeGo Ride partner pays for the program.
“We have acted in good faith with Walk Bike Nashville over the years, including offers to phase in necessary increases in a manner that is more palatable to Walk Bike Nashville," the statement reads. "We hope that their leadership will do the same."
Walk Bike executive director Meredith Montgomery tells the Post that the nonprofit is continuing conversations with WeGo to work out a more flexible payment process and reinstate the program as soon as possible.
“At this time, we are working through the details of a renewal contract with WeGo and are confident that we will be able to continue the Walk Bike Bus Program in some capacity for another 12 months,” Montgomery says.
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“We are grateful for WeGo's willingness to work with us on a plan that allows us to spread out our renewal fee over time.”
Montgomery says current passholders will be transitioned to the $50 rate, while new enrollments are paused indefinitely as talks continue.
Leaders with the Metro Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Traffic and Parking Commission, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the Vision Zero Advisory Committee and the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure convened for a joint meeting Monday. Notably missing from the conversation were the Metro Transit Authority (which oversees WeGo) and the Choose How You Move Advisory Committee.
When asked by a member of the Vision Zero Committee, Councilmember Sean Parker (outgoing chair of the council's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) said there was no specific reason that the committees were not included in Monday’s conversation, and that it’s helpful feedback for the future.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
