For many, the daily commute is a routine task. For people with disabilities, it can be much more complex.
This month, Disability Rights Washington, the Transportation and Mobility Commission and the city of Vancouver are shining a light on the obstacles faced by nondrivers, including youth, seniors and people who can’t afford cars or gas.
The fourth annual Week Without Driving from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 challenges Vancouver’s elected leaders, advocates and residents to get around without driving themselves. The challenge applies to all day-to-day activities — not just commuting to work.
Local disability advocate Abby Griffith, who is blind, helped launch the campaign in 2021 after connecting with others who shared similar experiences navigating public transportation. They wanted to highlight the importance of mobility access across the state.
“The important thing about the Week Without Driving challenge is that policymakers don’t know the struggle, but they’re still making decisions,” Griffith said. “Week Without Driving gives them an idea of how challenging it is to take a bus, a train or to be a nondriver.”
The campaign has become a national event, with about 300 organizations co-hosting the challenge across all 50 states. Week Without Driving events will be taking place across Washington, including Vancouver, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle and Pasco.
No bus, no Current
On Monday afternoon, Griffith was joined by two staff members from the city of Vancouver and Cecelia Black, transit organizer for Disability Rights Washington. The Seattle-based nonprofit organization provides free services to people with disabilities.
The four planned to travel from the Vancouver Amtrak Station, 1301 W. 11th St., to City Hall, 415 W. Sixth St., using public transportation.
They wanted to arrive at City Hall in time for Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle’s Week Without Driving proclamation, which was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. during Vancouver’s city council meeting, when Griffith was to deliver a speech.
But their journey wasn’t so simple.
Black, who uses a wheelchair, traveled from Seattle using Amtrak. She arrived in Vancouver to discover there are no C-Tran buses that run from the train station to City Hall, which is less than a mile away in downtown Vancouver.
The group’s next option was to call C-Tran’s Current ride service. The Current is advertised on C-Tran’s website as a new, on-demand rideshare service that costs the same amount as a bus ride.
But when Griffith called, the representative said there would be no rides available until 6:22 p.m., eight minutes before the proclamation was set to begin.
He added, “it’s not an on-demand service.” The representative recommended calling ahead next time to ensure there would be a ride available.
“We chose this spot for a reason. My question is: What is an accessible way to independently get a ride from the Amtrak station to City Hall?” Griffith said. “The Current says it’s accessible, but it is not a reliable system.”
Calling a traditional rideshare service like Lyft or Uber is not always realistic for daily trips due to the cost, Griffith said.
The group’s last resort was to walk. This posed a challenge for Black and Griffith because it involved crossing train tracks and traveling along streets without sidewalks.
At one point, Griffith and Black were in the middle of the street as they made their way to the next sidewalk.
City of Vancouver staff members, Olivia Kahn and Kail Hibbs, helped guide Black and Griffith on certain parts of the walk.
“Going to the doctor’s, going to the grocery store is like a full-time day job,” Griffith said. “We needed Week Without Driving so these decision-makers can feel what we feel.”
Accessible communities
Gov. Jay Inslee officially commemorated Week Without Driving on Aug. 20 through a proclamation.
“Going a week without driving is a great way to understand how we can improve our current transportation system to better meet the needs of Washingtonians and improve and enhance transportation options such as transit, light rail, biking and walking pathways as key strategies in our decarbonization efforts,” Inslee said in a news release.
The challenge isn’t about not using a car but to see what it’s like to not be the one able to drive. The issues go so far beyond just people with disabilities, which is why the intersection between housing, land-use planning and transportation is so important, Black said.
“I hope this is a reality check of why people who are underrepresented aren’t in leadership, because when you have inaccessible communities, you can’t do your job,” Black said. “You can’t do that unless you design communities for nondrivers.”
