Take the Week Without Driving challenge
A passenger in a wheelchair boards a routed bus.
Imagine your life without a car. Would you be able to navigate your daily routines, reach your workplace, doctor's office, grocery store, or loved ones? Week Without Driving, which is being held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, 2025, is a great chance to find out.
Week Without Driving encourages people who drive and community leaders to put themselves in the shoes of their neighbors who can’t. Kitsap Transit has participated in Week Without Driving for the last several years, and our board officially recognized the challenge last year.
“What nondrivers need – what we all need – is a transformation of the way we organize mobility, housing and public space so that we have options for getting around that do not rely on driving a car,” writes Anna Zivarts, the founder of the Week Without Driving challenge and author of When Driving Is Not An Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency. “We need safe, connected places to walk, roll, and ride; transit that is as reliable as driving; and land use and remote access opportunities that reduce how much we have to travel.”
Whether due to age, ability, or financial circumstances, nearly a third of Americans cannot drive but rely on a transportation system designed for driving. The goal of Week Without Driving is to complete your daily routines for an entire week without driving yourself in a car.
A person on a bike and a person with a cane get off the fast ferry at the Bremerton Transportation Center.
It’s an opportunity to learn firsthand about the barriers and challenges that nondrivers face. Walking on a sidewalk, you may notice uneven sections or even segments that end abruptly. How would you navigate that sidewalk in a wheelchair or if you had poor vision? If you’re afraid to bike to your destination, notice what elements put you off: Is there a bike lane, and is it separated from cars? Is there no place at your destination for bicycle storage? And, if you’re taking transit, are you able to access and understand the schedules?
You can get around however you want, but the goal is not to drive yourself in any car. Make a note of how easy (or hard!) it is to get where you need to go when driving isn’t an option. If you have to drive, that’s OK – but consider how someone without that option would have coped, and what choices they might have made.
We hope that this week will spark new ideas, inspire change, and offer a fresh look at the future of mobility. If you take the challenge, we’d love to hear about it! Visit weekwithoutdriving.org/join to sign up and explore opportunities to share your story.
If you’ve never ridden Kitsap Transit before, here are a few tips and tools to get started:
Check out our interactive system map.
Learn about Kitsap Transit fares and how to get an ORCA card.
Elderly and disabled riders can learn more about our ACCESS paratransit service by clicking this link or calling 1-360-479-7272.
If you have questions about a route, or just want help planning your trip, contact our Customer Service Office at 1-800-501-7433.