MEDIA ADVISORY: September 13, 2022
CONTACT:
Anna Zivarts, Disability Mobility Initiative, Disability Rights Washington
206 718 8432 – annaz@dr-wa.org
Week Without Driving Participation Doubles, With Participation from Leaders Throughout Washington State
For September 19: Next Monday, September 19 kicks off Disability Mobility Initiative’s 2022 Week Without Driving Challenge. Registration has more than doubled since last year’s event, with participation from elected leaders, transportation professionals and transit agencies across the state.
Participants include the mayors of Bellevue, Bothell, Issaquah, Olympia, Vancouver and Winthrop, and councilmembers from King, Pierce, Whatcom, Snohomish and Jefferson counties, as well as the councilmembers from the cities of Anacortes, Bellevue, Everett, Fircrest, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lacey, Liberty Lake, Mountlake Terrace, Millwood, Olympia, Port Angeles, Redmond, Seattle, Sedro-Woolley, Sequim, Tacoma and Yakima. Click here for a list of elected leaders who have registered so far.
“If you can drive, and can afford a car, you may not understand what it’s like to rely on walking, rolling, transit and asking or paying for rides. 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 our every day,” said Anna Zivarts, Director of the Disability Mobility Initiative.
This year, the Week Without Driving received an official proclamation from Governor Jay Inslee and Washington State Department of Transportation is also inviting all staff to participate in the challenge, and through the transportation demand management program for state workers coordinated by the Thurston Regional Planning Council, state employees will be invited to take the #WeekWithoutDriving challenge as well.
Fifteen transit agencies across the state have also endorsed the Week Without Driving, signing on to a letter where they encourage their agency staff, board and ridership to take the Week Without Driving challenge to better understand what it is like to not have the option to be able to drive yourself where you want to go.
Anyone can register to participate at WeekwithoutDriving.life. The Disability Mobility Initiative is specifically encouraging elected leaders, transportation professionals and transit providers to participate so they can start to understand the barriers nondrivers experience in accessing our communities. To prepare, read our stories collected in the Transportation Access for Everyone Storymap and check out highlights from our 2021 event. In this video, elected leaders who participated last year encouraged others to join in 2022.
The challenge is co-sponsored by Amazon, BERK and PRR. Co-hosts include: The Arc of Washington & the Arc of Snohomish County, All Aboard Washington, APIC Spokane, Bothellites for People Oriented Places, Cascade Bicycle Club, Center for Independence, Climate Solutions, Complete Streets Bellevue, Commute Seattle, CTANW, Downtown on the Go, Forevergreen Trails, Feet First, Front and Centered, Futurewise, Greater Spokane Progress, Hopelink, Kirkland Greenways, Leafline Trails Coalition, MLK Labor, Move Redmond, National Federation of the Blind of Washington State, People First of Washington & People First of Snohomish County, People for People, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Seattle Subway, Share the Cities, Sierra Club, Snohomish County Public Utility District, Snohomish County Transportation Coalition, Snoqualmie Valley Transit, Thurston Regional Planning Council, Transit Riders Union, Transportation Choices Coalition, Twin Star Credit Union, The Urbanist, Walk Roll Pierce County, Washington Council of the Blind, WA Sr. Lobby, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Whatcom Smart Trips, 350 Seattle.