Week Without Driving 2025

We are not hostile to cars here at Shifting Gears Bike Shop, but we do feel strongly about using bicycles as an alternative to driving. We also like to point out that not everyone drives. (We have family members that choose not to, and we have older family members that should choose not to.) You may know someone in your family that doesn’t drive, or you may have noticed the people in our community that don’t drive.

It’s hard to understand the transportation challenges for folks that won’t or can’t drive if you’re always able to take your car. That’s what the Week Without Driving is all about.

What is a Week Without Driving? How does it work?

This year the challenge runs from Monday, September 29th until Sunday, October 5th.

The idea is to avoid driving a car for a week. That’s it. Do you need to go to school or work? Do you need to buy groceries? Do you need to pickup the kids at daycare? Can you do those things without driving your car?

From the Week Without Driving website…

Every Trip Counts

You can get around however you want, but the challenge is not to drive yourself in any car. This applies to all your activities — not just your work commute. If you normally transport other family members or friends, it applies to those trips too. 

Asking or Paying for Rides

You can ask someone else to drive you, but make a note of how much you “owe” this person in their time, and if you felt obligated to support them in other ways (ie, doing all the dishes). You can ride hail or taxis if they exist where you need to go, but again, think about how the cost could impact your decision to take this trip if this was regularly your only option. 

Who Has Choices, What Are Your Choices?

This isn’t a disability simulation or a test of how easily you can find alternatives. We know that it is far easier to give up your keys if you can afford to live in a walkable area well served by transit, or can outsource your driving and other transport and delivery needs to other people.

It’s Okay to Drive – But Reflect What That Means for Nondrivers

Having to drive during the challenge does not signify failure. Sometimes the best reflection comes when someone participating in the challenge has to drive. The point is to consider how someone without that option would have coped, and what choices they might have made.

The Week Without Driving started in Washing state by Anna Zivarts, Director of Disability Mobility Initiative, at Rights Washington, as a way to draw attention to the folks that have to walk, bicycle, or use transit to get where they need to go. It has expanded across the country thanks to America Walks, an organization focused on accessibility and pedestrian safely.