A Week Without Driving

“I remember my 16^th birthday asking my parents who would be teaching me how to drive. The ablest response I got was that people with my disabilities didn’t drive and they weren’t going to teach me. I am now 41 years old and have never learned how to drive.

For the early years of my adult life, I was eligible for DDA services from age 17 to 20 I lived in adult family homes before transitioning into the community. I had caregiver assistance with shopping, meal prep and light house cleaning. When I lost eligibility for DDA services I had to learn pretty quickly how to accomplish these things on my own. I was a terrible cook I had to have given myself food poisoning a dozen times. At the time I was lucky to be living in the South Hill Regal neighborhood and everything I needed was within walking distance three grocery stores and a target and multiple restaurants. It was very much a walkable community. 

I had been taking the city bus independently since age 17 and still use it today. When I got my first iPhone, I had access to GPS to help with way finding while riding the bus to new locations. As someone who is directionally impaired, this is a huge thing! I travel a lot for work and Apps like Transit and OneBusAway have allowed me to independently navigate big cities like Washington DC. These apps show me where the bus stop is, shows the bus in real-time traveling the route and notify me when the stop I need is coming up. I am so thankful that the 2 line is now active. AtWork! HQ is in Bellevue, so when I come in and time allows I can take the 1 line all the way to the international district and then catch the two line to the Overlake Village Station and as of the 10^th of August 2026, Lime is now operating in Bellevue. This effectively turns a $100 Lyft ride from SeaTac to Bellevue into a total cost under 10 dollars with the light rail fare and the lime ride to the office!

In 2018 my transportation mode changed significantly when Lime came to Spokane. For the first time I was able to get around the community without having to take multiple buses or walk. In the winter of 2018, I bought my first electric scooter.

Owning my own made me so proud, I finally had an independent means of transportation. I could go where I wanted, when I wanted and cut down on time I was spending on the bus. I continue to use the bus and locally they allow scooters on the bus as long as they fold and are outside of the aisle. I can take the bus and then use my scooter for last mile transport.

In 2021 I bought a Tovala Smart oven. This oven is connected to the wireless network in our apartment and has a bar code reader that works with most of what my partner and I buy from Costco, as well as other built-in programmable recipes. For a while I was ordering pre-made meals from Tovala that worked with the bar code scanner. This is a game changer. All I have to do is scan a bar code and press start and the oven does all the rest.  

When I look back on my years of DDA eligibility, I can’t help but think how much money the state could have saved if I had access to assistive technology a lot sooner.

Driving is something that a lot of people take for granted. Riding an e-scooter has made me a lot more attentive so I hope someday I can learn how to drive so that my independence can continue to increase,

A week without driving is a great way to bring awareness to challenges that non-drivers face every day. I would encourage you all to look at different modalities during this week; public transit, biking, and wheel-share programs. All of these are great ways to reduce your carbon footprint and are cost saving, which everyone is looking for these days!”