Humboldt’s Week Without Driving explores everyday travel barriers

Well, for listeners who are hearing about this for the first time, what is the week without driving?

So this is a national event been going on for the last four years.

Um, actually started a little bit before that and left up in Washington state.

Um, and, uh, We have been participating here in Humboldt County for these last four years.

And essentially, it's an opportunity for folks who normally drive for most of their transportation needs to get a little bit of a firsthand experience of what it's like to get around our communities without driving.

And I think it's really important because We have a lot of members of our communities who are non-drivers, either because of age or because of disabilities or because they simply can't afford a car or can't afford the repairs or maintenance or gas that are needed.

But those folks, often their voices aren't heard, and typically those are not the folks who are in decision-making positions.

So just getting some of our decision-makers, as well as anybody else who wants to participate, to have some sense of what life is like for those folks.

So why did your organization decide to bring this national initiative to Humboldt County several years ago?

So I think it's because we don't, like I said, we don't often hear from non-drivers in decision-making spaces.

And I think partly that is because It can be hard to access those city council meetings and committee hearings and those kinds of things if you can't drive.

Often they are not accessible by transit or by walking or biking in some cases.

And so those folks just are not heard.

And I think, especially in a rural region like ours, there's often an assumption that everybody drives.

But we know that nationally... about a third of the population are non-drivers.

And even in rural areas, that's still pretty consistent.

And in fact, rural areas often have higher rates of disability.

They often have older populations and higher rates of poverty.

And so, all of those things can actually tend towards there being more non-drivers.

And also, in some cases, because there might not be public transit that's as accessible, or housing might be more spread out, that can lead to real isolation for non-drivers.

I got you.

So this allows some level of empathy for, I guess, the local elected officials and planners when they participate in this challenge.

Is that right?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's exactly right.

Well, for listeners who are hearing about this for the first time, what is the week without driving?

So this is a national event been going on for the last four years.

Um, actually started a little bit before that and left up in Washington state.

Um, and, uh, We have been participating here in Humboldt County for these last four years.

And essentially, it's an opportunity for folks who normally drive for most of their transportation needs to get a little bit of a firsthand experience of what it's like to get around our communities without driving.

And I think it's really important because We have a lot of members of our communities who are non-drivers, either because of age or because of disabilities or because they simply can't afford a car or can't afford the repairs or maintenance or gas that are needed.

But those folks, often their voices aren't heard, and typically those are not the folks who are in decision-making positions.

So just getting some of our decision-makers, as well as anybody else who wants to participate, to have some sense of what life is like for those folks.

So why did your organization decide to bring this national initiative to Humboldt County several years ago?

So I think it's because we don't, like I said, we don't often hear from non-drivers in decision-making spaces.

And I think partly that is because It can be hard to access those city council meetings and committee hearings and those kinds of things if you can't drive.

Often they are not accessible by transit or by walking or biking in some cases.

And so those folks just are not heard.

And I think, especially in a rural region like ours, there's often an assumption that everybody drives.

But we know that nationally... about a third of the population are non-drivers.

And even in rural areas, that's still pretty consistent.

And in fact, rural areas often have higher rates of disability.

They often have older populations and higher rates of poverty.

And so, all of those things can actually tend towards there being more non-drivers.

And also, in some cases, because there might not be public transit that's as accessible, or housing might be more spread out, that can lead to real isolation for non-drivers.

I got you.

So this allows some level of empathy for, I guess, the local elected officials and planners when they participate in this challenge.

Is that right?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's exactly right.