HomeMy WebLinkAbout091923 Take the National Week Without Driving challengeALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Dear Commissioner Brotherton:
What if you couldn’t drive?
What if taking the bus, riding a bike, walking or asking for rides weren’t a choice you could make, but a necessity?
What would it be like getting around without driving yourself? How would you meet your everyday needs, do your work, or enjoy our state's bounty of outdoor recreation opportunities?
For people who can drive, and can afford a car, this isn’t something you think about. But for people with disabilities, young people, seniors and people who can’t afford cars or gas
— this is our everyday.
As an elected leader, the decisions you make around transportation planning, policies and funding impact all of us, and we want you to have the opportunity to learn with us. That's why
I'd like to invite you to take the opportunity to learn more about the experience of nondrivers by committing to participate in the first National Week Without Driving, October 2-8.
In 2021 and 2022, leaders in Washington state participated in a Week Without Driving. As you’ll hear in this video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSIBmv3a-WY&feature=youtu.be> , they
found the experience incredibly valuable and are encouraging leaders and professionals like you across the country to join us this year. (Details on how the National Week Without Driving
works are below my signature line.)
I am a nondriver who has never been able to afford a car and so never got a driver's license. I've been able to enjoy some of Washington state's stellar natural environment because I
can bicycle. But there's so much more I and people like me cannot access independently because some of our state's most awe-inspiring and well-known destinations are either not served
at all by transit — like Mt. Rainier National Park — or are served so poorly that simply getting to the trailhead requires hours of research and preparation, like the Wilderness Coast
in Olympic National Park. Others, like Wallace Falls State Park, are tantalizing close to being served by transit, but require inconveniently long walks, often on roads lacking sidewalks
or shoulders.
I created Transit Trekker to highlight the trips that can be done by transit, and to highlight the potential for transit-based recreation, if only we invested in it. I believe that access
to recreation can and should be intertwined with improved mobility for nondrivers in rural regions.
Read what other nondrivers say about the barriers we face, including in rural communities and in accessing recreation, in the Disability Mobility's Transportation for Everyone <https://www.disability
rightswa.org/storymap/> Storymap.
Join me and take the challenge by signing up here <https://americawalks.org/campaigns/national-week-without-driving/> .
Best,
Kimberly
K. Huntress Inskeep
Founder, Transit Trekker <https://www.transittrekker.com>
About the National Week Without Driving
How did the #WeekWithoutDriving get started?
In November 2020, the Disability Mobility Initiative launched at Disability Rights Washington and began documenting the stories of nondrivers in our Transportation Access for Everyone
Storymap. We believe the knowledge and expertise reflected in the lived experience of nondrivers must be incorporated into the way our government funds, builds, and operates the transportation
system. We know that those of us who don’t have the privilege of driving deserve sidewalks, streets and public transit systems that actually work for us. In 2023, Disability Mobility
Initiative, America Walks, Access Living, and Front and Centered convened the National Coalition for a National Week Without Driving.
How does the #WeekWithoutDriving work?
You can get around however you want, but the challenge is not to drive yourself in any car. This applies to all your activities — not just your work commute. If you normally transport
other family members or friends, it applies to those trips too.
You can ask someone else to drive you, but make a note of how much you “owe” this person in their time, and if you felt obligated to support them in other ways (ie, doing all the dishes).
You can use taxis or ride hail if they exist where you need to go, but again, think about how the cost could impact your decision to take this trip if this was regularly your only option.
We’ll provide you with tools to prepare for the #WeekWithoutDriving and prompts during the week to reflect on what you’re learning and share with your community and other participants
in the #WeekWithoutDriving.
This isn’t a disability simulation or a test of how easily you can find alternatives. We know that it is far easier to give up your keys if you can afford to live in a walkable area
well served by transit, or can outsource your driving and other transport and delivery needs to other people. Having to drive during the challenge does not signify failure. The point
is to consider how someone without that option would have coped, and what choices they might have made.
Questions? Contact ruth at americawalks dot org