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| Heather with her e-bike |
By Heather McLaughlin
I live on the border of Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Lake Forest Park — three cities built with cars in mind. But I don’t drive.
I stopped when our family car, a 2010 Prius, became unreliable, and I realized that with light rail opening nearby and a trusty e-bike, I could get by without it. Today I use a mix of biking, transit, and the occasional ride-hail. Most days it works well — but it also reveals just how hard it is to live without a car in communities like ours.
Unless you’ve been in this position yourself, it’s easy to miss the daily challenges: bus routes that don’t line up, gaps in bike infrastructure, or the sheer cost of alternatives when transit doesn’t reach where you need to go.
When my husband broke a rib late one night, getting to the ER meant a $40 Lyft ride. By the time we left, the price had jumped to $80 — an impossible burden for many. Even with light rail, the trip home by transit took more than an hour.
These moments highlight what’s at stake in this year’s Week Without Driving (September 29–October 5). The annual event, started in 2020 by Disability Rights Washington, asks people — especially policy makers — to give up driving for a week, a day, or even just one trip. It’s grown into a nationwide effort with 400 organizations across all 50 states.
These moments highlight what’s at stake in this year’s Week Without Driving (September 29–October 5). The annual event, started in 2020 by Disability Rights Washington, asks people — especially policy makers — to give up driving for a week, a day, or even just one trip. It’s grown into a nationwide effort with 400 organizations across all 50 states.
Here in Shoreline, Urbanist Shoreline is encouraging neighbors to try it and share their experiences.
The point isn’t to shame drivers — most of us rely on cars because our communities have been designed around them. The point is to show what life is like for the more than 10% of Washingtonians of driving age who cannot or do not drive. Their voices are too often missing from transportation decisions.
That’s a problem not just for people like me, but for everyone. When policy makers assume driving is the only viable option, they leave us all with fewer choices. Drivers get stuck in traffic with no alternatives. Kids can’t safely bike or walk to school. Older adults lose independence when they can’t drive anymore. And our cities’ climate goals become harder to reach.
Shoreline’s own climate action plan identifies private vehicle trips as the single biggest source of carbon emissions — and calls for reducing them sharply over the coming years. We’ve made progress: light rail expansion, new sidewalks, and bike lanes are real steps forward.
The point isn’t to shame drivers — most of us rely on cars because our communities have been designed around them. The point is to show what life is like for the more than 10% of Washingtonians of driving age who cannot or do not drive. Their voices are too often missing from transportation decisions.
That’s a problem not just for people like me, but for everyone. When policy makers assume driving is the only viable option, they leave us all with fewer choices. Drivers get stuck in traffic with no alternatives. Kids can’t safely bike or walk to school. Older adults lose independence when they can’t drive anymore. And our cities’ climate goals become harder to reach.
Shoreline’s own climate action plan identifies private vehicle trips as the single biggest source of carbon emissions — and calls for reducing them sharply over the coming years. We’ve made progress: light rail expansion, new sidewalks, and bike lanes are real steps forward.
But they’re not enough. We need a full network of safe, convenient, and affordable non-car options: buses that connect seamlessly, protected bike routes that don’t vanish at busy intersections, sidewalks that work for people of all abilities.
For me, biking to my bookkeeping clients around the region works — most of the time. But when I have to get from Shoreline to Renton, patience is the only way to survive the two-hour trip, even with light rail. That shouldn’t be the case.
For me, biking to my bookkeeping clients around the region works — most of the time. But when I have to get from Shoreline to Renton, patience is the only way to survive the two-hour trip, even with light rail. That shouldn’t be the case.
If our cities truly invested in alternatives, everyone would benefit: people who don’t drive, people who can’t drive, and yes, even people who do.
That’s why I’m inviting you to join me in trying the Week Without Driving. Pick a day, or even a single trip, to leave the car behind. Notice what works and what doesn’t. Could you get there by bus? Was there a safe walking or bike route? Did it take a reasonable amount of time?
The answers to those questions matter far beyond this week. They should shape the way we plan and build our communities. Because a Shoreline that works without a car is a Shoreline that works better for everyone.
That’s why I’m inviting you to join me in trying the Week Without Driving. Pick a day, or even a single trip, to leave the car behind. Notice what works and what doesn’t. Could you get there by bus? Was there a safe walking or bike route? Did it take a reasonable amount of time?
The answers to those questions matter far beyond this week. They should shape the way we plan and build our communities. Because a Shoreline that works without a car is a Shoreline that works better for everyone.
I will never get rid of my car, life w/o would be too limiting, I do take light rail to work most days, although reliability is suspect and safety needs improving. I can easily walk to light rail, if I had to take a bus or ride a bike to light rail first I would just continue to drive. I believe the best way to get people out of their cars is to create neighborhood pockets of walkable amenities(i.e cafe's, grocery, barbers, etc.). I'm not taking a bus to get groceries, get a haircut, etc. Spending less time in cars in a walkable community is better than being in a community where you have to take a bus to get anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThanks for promoting this initiative. I also live in Shoreline and don't normally drive. I encourage others to give it a try for a week, especially those who have any involvement in politics or public policy. When you're making decisions that affect other people, it's important to try and put yourself in their shoes. You may even find you like walking, biking, or public transit more for certain trips!
ReplyDelete"we plan and build our community" Shoreline has already been built. Everyone who moved here, many years ago, knew a car was required. Most people welcomed that opposed to Seattle where people are stacked up in apartments, have very little yard, and are forced to use public transportation because there is only street parking. We got sold on incorporating as a city by people who thought the only way to save our little corner of the world from progressive Seattle and King County, was to get a city government to protect us. We did just that and look where that has brought us.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to give a thumb's up to LFP dwellers, who still have a beautiful little garden spot without roadside parking and gigantic apartment houses looming over family homes.
Wow! I couldn't do without a vehicle in order to do my shopping! How would I carry home packs of water, large bags of dry cat food, and/or 14 lb. boxes of kitty litter? Just unloading heavy stuff from my vehicle at home is hard enough when you're an older person!
ReplyDelete"I stopped when our family car, a 2010 Prius, became unreliable" So how do your family travel around now? How do you get your kids, or (applicable to some of us) your elderly parents to appointments scattered around the city and the region? How do you all travel outside of the bus and light rail networks? How do you get to the OR coast, or visit the N Cascades National park?
ReplyDeleteI would love for the city to hold constructions companies accountable for the road damage they cause. My commute down 185th to the light rail is treacherous. 2 flat tires so far. These companies should be forced to renew the damaged road daily.
ReplyDeleteI agree though, we need more easy access to shopping and a local downtown feel like Edmonds. In addition, the city does not want to make Aurora and the surrounding areas safe.
Thank you for the reminder to take the challenge, Heather - and you're right: it should be easier!
ReplyDeleteWatching my son walk off to school today, I was reminded that about 30% of all ages can't drive. We need our community to work for everyone, including people who are unable or no longer able to drive. That will make it easier to grow up, raise kids, and grow old.
Let's all watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit again and think about all the policy decisions that got us here - the rail to Everett is now being rebuilt at huge cost for bicycles. Maybe we could encourage policy that is more future-forward thinking?
ReplyDeleteI’m a lifelong recreational cyclist, but stick to trails and wide bike lanes on residential streets. It’s just too dangerous to try to commute solely by bike; too many drivers are distracted, aggressive, under the influence or sleep deprived. I survived a tour of duty on the Vietnam War and am not about to press my luck now.
ReplyDeleteOur country is build in a way were it is pretty much impossible to live without a car as much of a bike enthusiast as I am I know that I can never live without a car/license
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a family that chose not to drive and didn't own a car. Their self-righteousness meant that I was always asking schoolmates for rides to events, and it was often easier to just stay home and miss out than be beholden to them. We only went places we could get to by bus or train, so there were parts of the country I never visited. And we were at the mercy of schedule changes and cancellations. It was a miserable experience.
ReplyDeleteWonderful Op-Ed. I think you really captured the car-less (car-free) experience well. It is easy to get set on a mode like driving anywhere but when you can't drive for whatever reason or worry about the impacts, many people find they dont have other options in their community and we should change that.
ReplyDeleteOnce you've seen how bicycle friendly it is in the Netherlands, the US looks like a death trap for bicyclists.
ReplyDeleteThe Netherlands is flat. There are no hills to navigate
DeleteI've never seen a 2010 Prius become unreliable without either a big crash or significant neglect. Taking good care of machines so that they don't have to be thrown away is one of the greenest things we all can do.
ReplyDeleteAlso, are you serious with your claim that non-drivers' voices are often missing from Shoreline transportation decisions? That couldn't be further from the truth. Our local governments bend over backwards to design for peds, cyclists, and transit users, subsidizing all of it on the backs of drivers to the tune of thousands per year. If you want to advocate for non-driving options, that's great, but it insults reality to pretend that we live in a place where cars are king, and that non-drivers don't already have an outsized seat at the table given their numbers and the revenue they contribute.
What solution is the author proposing to address this issue "When my husband broke a rib late one night, getting to the ER meant a $40 Lyft ride. By the time we left, the price had jumped to $80 — an impossible burden for many. " Would she like a hospital built at the end of her street? Or a free hospital taxi service? Or a direct bus route from her home (and by extension, everyone else's home) to the hospital, available on demand? Help me out here. What's your solution?
ReplyDeleteWonderful initiative.... but not so easy for us seniors (and folks like me who have an elderly husband in Hospice at home) ... like most things in life the issues are not black or white, nor simple. But YES to appreciating the importance of what BOTH cars and avoiding all unnecessary driving can do.
ReplyDeleteYES to more livable neighborhoods, which as we all know (I hope) includes shady streets and sidewalks that are not hot enough to fry an egg, as well as neighborshop shops and services.
This requires more attention and thinking outside the usual boxes (and inforcing) better rules about mature tree preservation when creating tree codes and writing permitting rules and regulations for new construction - especially codes in high population areas.
Don't you think some priorities for making sure kids have safe and pleasant bike and walking paths to and from their local schools is CRUCIAL? These all the future grownups who will have to live in the world we are leaving them.... let them be healthier AND used to not being driven everywhere.
We live near several private and public schools and the traffic on school drop off and pick up times is horrific. And so sad.
We come from a community in N Michigan where there was an emphasis on planning and building so that kids could bike and walk safely to school. Yet I see no evidence that the City of Shoreline is doing that at all.
Please tell me I'm wrong about that.
Trish Woollcott
Hillwood
206 586 3201
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughtful advocacy for a more accessible Shoreline! I love biking but it's daunting to find safe routes that connect my destinations. Too often I'm sharing an uncomfortably narrow road with cars, debating whether I should be an inconvenient hazard on the road or move to the sidewalk at the risk of pedestrians. I would love to see more stretches of protected bike lanes and walking paths!
ReplyDelete