It was no accident that I chose to read Anna Zivarts new book, When Driving is Not an Option (Island Press, 2024), just in time for Pedestrian Safety Month. Anna is a low-vision mom and nondriver who is the force behind many things, including the Week Without Driving.
The Week Without Driving challenge was created “so that those who have the option to drive can learn firsthand about the barriers and challenges that nondrivers face and work with nondrivers to create more accessible communities for all.” Week Without Driving is gaining traction nationwide, and several Wisconsin communities are participating in 2024; on Monday of this week, I biked to a BRT station on the east side of Madison and rode to the Capitol with several local leaders and elected officials to celebrate the opening of the BRT and bring awareness to the transportation needs of nondrivers through the Week Without Driving.
Image: a group of people enter a BRT station by the Capitol Square in Madison with a bus standing by in the street.
This book is both illuminating and humbling. Even if you think you know a lot about transportation access and equity, you probably don't, unless of course you are a nondriver yourself. (I have a driver’s license and easy access to a car, so I often need this reminder.) Zivarts has a whole chapter entitled “Nondrivers are everywhere” that methodically lists the many reasons people are nondrivers: disability, affordability, lack of vehicle access in racially minoritized communities (especially Black, Native American, and Native Alaskan), immigration status, older people, and children and youth. That’s a lot of people! It’s worth highlighting the point that disability takes many forms and extends far beyond just people who are blind or use wheelchairs. I will be assigning this chapter to the current cohort of Transportation Academy participants for the week we focus on transit.
[a study noted that] the most prevalent concern of nondrivers is trip planning. Nondrivers with disabilities are often forced to patch together transit options to determine the least time intensive, least dangerous, or most physically possible way to get somewhere. It takes time–sometimes hours–to do this research before a trip. p48
Anna Zivarts started her career as a labor organizer, and her background in that area of transit justice shines through in every chapter of When Driving is Not an Option. She frequently points out that fair pay and labor conditions for transit drivers, delivery drivers, and disabled members of the workforce are essential components of an equitable and just transport system.
Zivarts cautions against relying too heavily on privatized solutions to transportation problems. Autonomous vehicles and private on-demand transit services may be appealing to venture capitalists, but are also vulnerable to the whims and changing winds of profit-driven interests who are also not beholden to rules like providing car seats for children or vehicles that accommodate wheelchairs.
Zivarts gives kudos to the Wisconsin Non-Driver Advisory Committee (WiNDAC), which was formed in 2020 by WisDOT at the urging of disability advocates statewide. (Note: I sit on WiNDAC on behalf of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin.) According to data collected by WisDOT, fully 31% of Wisconsin residents are nondrivers, but Denise Jess (WiNDAC co-chair and Executive Director of Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired) reckons it’s more than that.
[Denise] believes that 31 percent is likely an undercount, as [WisDOT was] unable to include undocumented nondrivers and people who have licenses but limit their driving or stopped driving because of safety concerns. p80
Perhaps the most important point made in the book is that an environment that prioritizes movement and access for nondrivers is ultimately better for all of us. We all need safe and affordable places to live, work, and play, and we need safe routes to get there without total reliance on motor vehicles. This is true in urban and rural areas.
When the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities, not only will we be able to more easily get where we need to go, but the changes will lead to healthier, climate-friendly communities for everyone. So, what are we waiting for? p9
Susan Gaeddert is Community Programs Director at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, where she runs Active Wisconsin, facilitates the Community Transportation Academy, and coordinates the Wisconsin Climate Table. Have you read any good books lately? Send your recommendation to: susan@1kfriends.org
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