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?
For people who can drive and can afford a car, this isn’t something you think about. But for nearly a quarter of the people in our state — people with disabilities, young people, seniors, and people who can’t afford cars or gas — this is their every day.
The decisions our society makes around transportation planning, policies, and funding impact all of us. That’s why Feet First is joining the Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington to co-host the Week Without Driving Challenge this October 2-8.
Here is How the Week Without Driving Challenge Works: you can get around however you want, but you can’t drive yourself in any car. This applies to all your activities — not just your work commute. And if you normally transport other family members or friends, it applies to those trips too.
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 you can outsource your driving and other transport and delivery needs to other people. Instead, we intend this as a learning experience to inform the decisions we as a society make about land use, climate, health equity, and transportation access and funding. We want you to have this experience so you can start to understand the barriers non-drivers experience in accessing our communities.
Register for the Week Without Driving Challenge at WeekwithoutDriving.life.