Week Without Driving
Can you go a week without driving?
Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST) invites you to join us and our community partners for the Week Without Driving from Monday, September 30 – Sunday, October 6, 2024.
Nationally, the challenge to go an entire week without driving aims to educate those who have the option to drive about the barriers and challenges that nondrivers face.
Locally, BEST is inviting the community—especially policymakers who make decisions about our transportation system—to participate as they can. Whether for one day or the entire week, the goal is for the community to gain firsthand experience on what is needed to create more accessible communities for all.
We’ve invited almost 100 community partners to take part in the weeklong challenge, and invite the community to participate and follow along as you can.
Calendar
Check back here for updates to our calendar of events and activities.
| Mon 9/30 | Tue 10/1 | Wed 10/2 | Thu 10/3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 10/4 | Sat 10/5 | Sun 10/6 | Ongoing |
|---|---|---|---|
External links
- Sign the #WWD24 Pledge! (The Street Trust)
- Week Without Driving (National Campaign for Transit Justice)
- Week Without Driving (America Walks and Disability Rights Washington)
- Week Without Driving (Disability Rights Washington)
Further reading
- Steering Away from Car Dependency Is Not About Toughing It Out (Anna Zivarts, The Urbanist, 6/26/24)
Anna Zivarts published When Driving Isn’t an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency with Island Press in May 2024. The book outlines her experience as a low-vision nondriver and shines a light on the frustrating, dangerous, and sometimes deadly situations involuntary nondrivers face every day. This is a letter she wrote in response to her mother’s reaction to the book.
- Talking Headways Podcast: When Driving is Not an Option (Streetsblog USA, 6/20/24)
Talking with the great Anna Zivarts about non-drivers, car seats, and the week without driving.
- Can We Go Beyond Car Primacy—to Policymaking That Serves People and Places First? (Sightline Institute, 6/12/24)
Non-driver Anna Zivarts’ case for steering away from car dependency.
- What If Non-Drivers Helped Plan Our Transportation Systems? (Anna Zivarts, Next City, 5/10/24)
One-third of Americans don’t have a driver’s license. Anna Zivarts says it’s time for transportation planners to include them in decision-making.
- The Dawn of the ‘Non-Driver’ Movement: A Conversation with Anna Zivarts (Streetsblog USA, 5/9/24)
“At the end of the day, there are going to be folks who still can’t drive and can’t afford to drive — and there are still going to be a lot of us.”
- UO students help BEST plan Week Without Driving campaign (BEST, 4/16/24)
- To Help Save the Planet, Take the ‘Week Without Driving’ Challenge (Streetsblog USA, 9/29/23)
Former Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz is urging Americans to give up driving for seven days—and support policies to make it optional for everyone.
- Week Without Driving Goes Nationwide This October—Join Us! (The Urbanist, 9/22/23)
Nationally, more that 123 groups from 35 states and Washington D.C. are hosting the challenge in their communities, organizers report.
- What a Week Without Driving Can Teach (Anna Zivarts, Bloomberg CityLab, 9/18/23)
For many Americans, hanging up your car keys for an entire week feels like a lot to ask. It shouldn’t be.
- Could You Go a Week Without Driving? (Anna Zivarts, Streetsblog USA, 5/25/23)
Yes — And Here’s Why You Should.
- Leading the National Week Without Driving, October 2-8, 2023 (America Walks, 5/4/23)
The prioritization of driving in the United States has caused people without the ability, choice, or want to drive to face challenges that are not well understood or forgotten by those who drive.
- It’s Not Just Highways. The Time For Street Reform Is Now. (Anna Zivarts, Next City, 10/12/22)
If we want to address barriers to access, and the public health and climate impacts of car-dependence, we must make it easier for non-drivers to get around our communities.
- Ditch your car for ‘Week Without Driving’, World Carfree Day (BikePortland, 9/16/22)
In a society where driving everywhere is the norm, people who don’t drive very often—or at all—are seen as strange or radical. But what’s truly radical is not even trying to do something else.
Similar events
Two similar challenges in September aim to help people shift their own travel habits:
- Get There Car Free Challenge: Monday–Sunday, September 16–22
Oregon’s 12th annual statewide challenge to help make Oregon a better place to live, work, and play by shifting travel and work habits one trip at a time. Get There Oregon, launched by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and local partners across the state, helps commuters and employers shift commute habits and work practices one trip at a time.
- Car Free Day: Sunday, September 22
An international event celebrated annually on September 22 to encourage people to get around by methods other than driving alone, and instead use public transportation, walk, bike, scooter, telework, and/or rideshare for a day.
A month of biking in the spring and walking in the fall are focused more on personal fun and exercise:
- May is Bike Month: May
All throughout the month of May, join your community in celebrating everything bicycle. There’s something for everyone.
- Walktober: October
Do you like walking for fun, exercise, or errands? Or wish you had more reasons to walk? Get ready for Walktober this October 2024—a month filled with walking events! Walktober is being organized by the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG).