Images from events in Spokane, King County, Walla Walla, Pierce County, and Bellingham organized around this year’s Week Without Driving.
More than 500 individuals and 50 elected officials from across Washington State participated in this year’s Week Without Driving challenge which was celebrated by community organizations, transit agencies, transportation departments and public officials across our state.
In 2021, disabled advocates at Disability Rights Washington launched the Week Without Driving to increase the visibility of nondrivers. Now in its fifth year, Week Without Driving has grown to include more than five hundred co-hosting organizations across all fifty US states, Canada and Australia.
This year, in Washington State, we received official Week Without Driving proclamations from Governor Ferguson, and the cities of Carnation, College Place, Dayton, Kirkland, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Olympia, Tumwater, Snoqualmie, Seattle and Walla Walla, as well as Columbia, Pierce, King and Kitsap Counties.
To celebrate this year, we at Disability Rights Washington decided to put our focus on paratransit, organizing two “ride-along” events in collaboration with King County Metro and Pierce Transit. Last Thursday, disability advocates Krystal Monteros and Tony Hester joined Pierce County Councilmembers Jani Hitchen and Robyn Denson & County Executive Ryan Mello for a Pierce Transit ride-along. And on Friday, King County Councilmember Jorge Baron joined our Disability Rights WA board member Teaera Hayes for a King County Metro Access ride.
Earlier in the week, we traveled to eastern Washington to support a walkabout and Valley Transit ride organized by the Walla Walla/Columbia County Accessible Communities Advisory Committee, where we were joined by many local public officials including Councilmembers Norma Hernandez and Heather Schermann from College Place and Walla Walla County Councilmember Bertha Clayton.
We’re still working on gathering information from our community partners about their events and partnerships with elected leaders. In the meantime, here are a few media highlights!
Spokane
- Spokane Public Radio: Are Your Boots Made for Walking, Spokane Reimagined Challenges Residents to a Week Without Driving
- Range Media: Can You Go a Week Without Driving?
- KXLY Spokane: City of Spokane Invites You to Join the Week Without Driving
- Spokesman Review: Getting there: A Spokane group argues STA should install bus benches, so volunteers made and installed them over the weekend
North Bend
- Living Snoqualmie: North Bend Recognizes Week Without Driving, Sept. 29–Oct. 5
- Hoodline: North Bend Mayor Launches “Week Without Driving” Initiative to Promote Sustainable Transportation
Everett
- Everett Herald: Week Without Driving Challenges Drivers to Walk, Take Transit
Bellingham
- Salish Current: The ‘Subdued Saunter’ comes to Bellingham
Olympia/Tumwater
- JOLT: City of Olympia to mark ‘Week Without Driving’ with 4th Avenue walk audit
- CitizenPortal: Tomahner City Council Proclaims Week Without Driving to Enhance Community Mobility
Shoreline
- Shoreline Area News: Getting around Shoreline without a car shouldn’t be this hard
Walla Walla
- Apple Valley News Now: Walla Walla campaign encourages week without driving to highlight transportation barriers
- Elkhorn Media Group: Walla Walla County Proclaims Week Without Driving
- Union Bulletin: Walla Walla Week Without Driving Organizers Look to Raise Awareness About Accessibility
- Union Bulletin: Grading access: Measuring barriers in downtown Walla Walla
Seattle
- Fox 13: Week Without Driving highlights challenges for Washington’s non-drivers
- Seattle Bike Blog: A Week Without Driving … or Biking?
- Seattle Transit Blog: A Week Without Driving
Support for Week Without Driving
Week Without Driving wouldn’t be possible without our allies and partners. Amazon, a strong advocate of public transportation throughout the Puget Sound region, has supported Week Without Driving for four years with funding that has allowed the initiative to develop and expand outside of Washington State. We’re also grateful to ongoing support from the Seattle Foundation, and for our 2025 Week Without Driving sponsors, King County Metro, Sound Transit, PRR and Veo and appreciate their unwavering commitment to ensuring everyone has the freedom to move.
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Washington State Community Partners
| AIROW Project All Aboard WA Community in Motion Disability Rights Washington Downtown on the Go Eastrail Partners Evergreen Health Kitsap County Accessible Communities Advisory Committee Liveable Kirkland Max Higbee Center MoveRedmond Olympians for People Oriented Places | Snoqualmie Valley Mobility Coalition SnoTrac Spokane Reimagined Thurston Regional Planning Council Transit Trekker Transit Riders Unite Transportation Choices Coalition Walk and Roll Bellingham Walla Walla/Columbia County Accessible Communities Advisory Committee Whatcom SmartTrips |