Knox Pick-Me-Up — Ride from last call to first cup.

For patrons

Four steps. Two brews. Safer roads.

You don’t have to choose between leaving your car and getting stranded downtown. Pick-Me-Up turns the responsible choice into the rewarding one.

Park

Park in a municipal garage or lot downtown.

Catch a ride

At the end of the night, book an Uber, Lyft, or cab — or hop a KAT bus — home instead of driving. Leave the car; downtown’s public garages and lots are free after 6 pm and all weekend.

Show it & grab your card

Show your rideshare screen or activated transit ticket to bar staff before you head out. They stamp and hand over a Morning Pick-Me-Up card — one per ride. (Sharing a Lyft? The booker gets the card.)

Coffee & car

Ride KAT back downtown free on the card, claim your free large coffee within a day, grab your car, and drive home — sober and caffeinated.

Why it matters

Safer roads start with an easy reason to leave the car.

Impaired driving hurts real people on Knoxville’s roads every year. The single biggest reason someone drives home after drinking downtown is the car itself — nobody wants the hassle of coming back for it. Pick-Me-Up removes that reason: leave the car, get home safe, and let your car be the reason you’re back downtown in the morning.

67people seriously injured each year in Knoxville-area crashes involving an impaired driver

27lives lost each year in those same crashes

1 in 3Knox County crash deaths involve an impaired driver

Injury and fatality figures: Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization. Share of deadly crashes: Knox County Health Department. Program impact metrics will be published after the pilot with the City of Knoxville and KPD.

The Pick-Me-Up

The Morning Pick-Me-Up card

A simple, wallet-sized card handed to you at last call and redeemed the next morning. It’s a thanks for keeping the roads safe — good for a free large coffee, and a free ride to go get your car.

Free large coffee: At any participating downtown shop — the morning-after pick-me-up, on the house.
Hair of the KAT: While it’s valid, the card is your KAT bus fare — board any bus free, including the morning trip back to your car.
One per booked ride: While supplies last, your bartender can give you a card per booked ride or active KAT ticket.
Valid one day: From issue, so it’s for your morning-after trip.
QR code on every card: Links to the current list of participating businesses.

The map

Your coffee is a few blocks from your car.

Night-navy dots are the bars handing out cards at last call; sunrise pins are the coffee shops pouring your free cup the next morning — all a short walk from the downtown garages and lots where the car sits free after 6 pm and all weekend.

Free coffee in the morning

Remedy Coffee — Old City
K Brew Downtown — South Gay Street
Honeybee Coffee — Downtown South

Card-issuing bars

Preservation Pub — Market Square
Peter Kern Library — Union Avenue
Suttree’s High Gravity Tavern — South Gay Street
Barley’s Taproom — Old City
Boyd’s Jig & Reel — Central Street

Partners

Built with downtown, for downtown.

Pick-Me-Up works because every partner wins — bars close out safer nights, coffee shops open to guaranteed morning traffic, transit picks up late-night riders, and the city gets safer streets and busier sidewalks.

Free to join

Downtown bars

Send patrons home safe — and reduce your late-night liability exposure.
Free co-branded coasters, table tents, and restroom signage supplied by the program.
10-second workflow: glance at the ride screen, stamp a card, hand it over.
Listed on this site and in program marketing as a safety-first venue.

Structure designed together with partners

Coffee shops

Morning foot traffic from last night’s crowd.
A large coffee is a small pour towards a larger breakfast order — and a good first visit makes a regular.
Simple redemption: collect the card, log the serial — done.
Co-branding on every card and coaster in circulation downtown.

Parking policy, promotion, credibility

City & KPD

A positive-incentive complement to enforcement — every card is a decision to not drive home impaired.
Existing free overnight & weekend parking in municipal garages and lots already makes leaving the car easy — the program just spreads the word.
Clear metrics: cards issued and redeemed, by night and by venue.

Accepted proof, free rides for cardholders

Knoxville Area Transit

An activated KAT ticket is an accepted safe-ride-home proof — no rideshare required.
“Hair of the KAT” — a valid Pick-Me-Up card is bus fare for the morning trip back to the car.
New off-peak and late-night ridership, and riders who try KAT for the first time.
Co-branding alongside downtown’s road-safety story.

Questions

Frequently asked

What counts as “showing my ride”?

A confirmed or just-booked rideshare (Uber/Lyft), a taxi receipt, an activated Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) bus ticket, or a designated-driver pickup at the bartender’s discretion. The point is simple: you’re not driving.

What about my car overnight?

Good news: downtown’s public parking — garages and surface lots — is free after 6 pm on weeknights and all weekend, so leaving your car overnight won’t cost you a thing. They’re all on the map. Just grab the car in the morning when you come back for your coffee. (A couple of sites price special events or Saturday daytime differently, so give the posted signage a glance.)

Can I get more than one card?

It’s one card per booked ride — the ride is the ticket. Cards are date-stamped, bar-marked, and serialized, and are valid for one day from issue. If your whole group piles into one Uber, that’s one card (whoever booked it gets the coffee — choose your friends wisely).

What about designated drivers?

If someone at the table is driving everyone else home and hasn’t had a drop to drink, a bartender can hand them a card as a thanks too — that’s entirely their call. Being the sober ride home is exactly the behavior this program exists to reward.

The card gets me free transit too?

Yes — we call it “Hair of the KAT.” While your Pick-Me-Up card is valid, show it to board any Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) bus and ride free, including your morning trip back downtown to pick up your car. One card, coffee and the ride to go get it.

What if I didn’t drive downtown?

The program is designed for people whose car is parked downtown — that’s the moment the risky decision happens. But bartenders have discretion; the goal is safe rides home, not paperwork.

Who pays for the coffee?

The funding model is being designed right now with our partners, drawing on sponsorships and partner venues. What’s already fixed: the perk is always free for the person who took the safe ride home.

How can I support this?

Tip a little extra at the bar and the coffee shop — easy to do when a ride you skipped just saved you the cost of one. Use the card as an excuse to try a partner business you haven’t been to yet; the roster’s on the map. And once you’ve found a favorite, keep coming back — repeat customers are exactly what makes the math work for the bars and shops carrying this.

Does the map track me?

No. The map is OpenStreetMap data (drawn by CARTO), and it only loads if you scroll down to it. If you tap “find the coffee near me,” your browser asks your permission first, and your location is used right there on your phone to work out which shop is closest — it isn’t sent to us or stored anywhere. Same as the cards themselves: this program collects nothing about you.

Is this a City of Knoxville program?

Knox Pick-Me-Up is a proposed public-private partnership, currently in the pilot design phase, seeking partnership with the City of Knoxville, the Knoxville Police Department, and downtown businesses.