Undriving and Undriver Licensing

The “official” Ballard blogger on the PI, Peggy Sturdivant, wrote a nice story on her reasons for undriving.

Check it out!

I typically ride my bike to work (Fremont to Magnolia) and thought I would hang it up for the season… until a friend of mine said I should sign up as an undriver and put the pedal to the metal for another month. So, after signing up with the pledge to continue to ride my bike or take the bus if it was too rainy, I sit here today suffering from a cold and blogging on my experience…

I did not succeed as I had envisioned. Instead of riding every day, I rode about half as much. I never took the bus on the alternating days, but instead drove in. I do not feel bad about not riding the bus– the tickets went to very good use to a friend whose car broke down. He liked taking the bus so well that he will not be purchasing another car anytime soon, but will continue to take the bus for his daily work commute and Flexcar for his other outings.

So, in conclusion, this program has altered the plan of two people’s commuting options– which makes me feel not so bad for driving into work with my cold.

Did you see this article? Some encouraging trends and great personal stories…

As traffic gets nastier, many of us are shifting gears

I need to begin by saying that Undriving is much harder than I had imagined. I already bike/bus to both work and school on a daily basis, so I had already picked the low hanging fruit before making my Undriving pledge. I pledged to Undrive to the grocery store and to social events, and did not realize how much I would struggle to achieve that seeminlgy simple goal. I ran in to difficulties the first Saturday of October, when my wife and I had tickets to see Widespread Panic at the Paramount, and we also wanted to make it to my little brother’s show at Showbox SoDo at 11 PM the same night. Undriving would have been a logistical nightmare, and despite having a fun night, I came home disappointed that I had broken my pledge only one week into the month. Stacy and I realized that even though I had broken my pledge, I had actively tried to find a way not to drive, and it made me think differently about arranging social events in the future so that I could feasibly Undrive. So I plan to take this failure and turn it into an opportunity by analyzing how I plan my time and trying to set up my life to minimize (if not eliminate) the need for driving. I know that with a little creativity and foresight I can make this happen.
-Craig

I had just a GREAT first week: I rode the bus 4/5 days and felt so much more relaxed. Every morning, I said to the driver, “thanks for driving me to work!”More later,Diane

…I already blew it. As a happily car-free Ballardian for the past three years, I’d planned to pledge to not ride in a car at all this month. I thought this would be a great opportunity to encourage friends to undrive too, by suggesting we bike-pool, bus-pool, or walk to activities together, instead of me snagging a ride. However, toward the end of last week I realized I would need to (gulp) rent a car (something I do about once a year) to get to a family wedding in Leavenworth this weekend. So that pledge might need to be for November…..

I picked up the car this morning, and quickly lapsed back into being a driver. When it was time to go to work (2 miles away, a nice quick bike ride usually), I found myself feeling lazy about getting the bike out of the garage; I took the car instead, because it was there. On my way home, I did something I’d never done before - I drove to downtown Ballard, to get something at Second Ascent. As I was getting out of the car I thought, hmm, a sandwich from the Other Coast would be good - but then I thought, naw, that’s too far to walk. (Huh? When I’m on foot or on my bike, a block or two is nothing, and it’s usually on my way anyway.) Here I was, reverting to my former driverly mindset, after just a few hours of car access.

While I am looking forward to seeing my family tomorrow at the wedding, I am also looking forward to putting those car keys in the drop box Sunday night. It’s easier for me to see more options when I have one less. -Julia

This just in from our friend Alexandra: Who would have thought that kids taking the bus to school could make such a difference for the whole family?

“My kids ages 10 and 12 have started taking the Metro bus to school. Despite the fact that they have to leave the house 45 minutes earlier
than they used to when they were driven, they love it. In fact, my
younger one said it is the favorite part of her day. They meet 2
friends who get on 3 stops later and they all have a great time and
it is a wonderful start to their day. It has made our mornings much
more smooth - and I get an extra hour, too.”

This piece originally ran in the 2007 Sustainable Ballard Festival “Fishwrapper” - one of the “local hero” stories about Ballard residents taking steps to live more sustainably.

After my husband, Dean, lost his battle to brain cancer in June of last year, I pretty much sat around the backyard smoking cigarettes and drinking wine, grieving the summer away.

When school started and my youngest entered kindergarten, I was faced for the first time in eight years of actually having time alone. Dean and I had both been dedicated cyclists in our lives BC (before children/before cancer) and I had been ruminating on how ridiculous it was to drive my car to and from school twice a day – a total of 4 miles – when we could just as easily be riding bikes or walking. I thought, well, it’s time to live your ideals, girl. So on day two of school, I loaded Grace on the trail-a-bike, Miles on his own, and we rode to Adams Elementary school.

It was exhilarating! It was also, not surprisingly, hard. All those years taking care of others, including the last three concentrating on my husband’s well-being, had left me spiritually rich, but muscle poor. I was REALLY out of shape. I huffed it back up the hill and thought, Wow, THAT felt good. Let me catch my breath! Where are my cigarettes?

We kept at it, and it got easier. And, the coolest thing happened. Other kids and parents started riding too! Pretty soon the bike racks were filled, and after school the playground was full of scooters, bikes, and unicycles zipping around.

When the rains started, the kids weren’t hip to riding to school much, but
I kept riding on my own. Throughout the winter I rode, including a standing
Wednesday date with a fellow mom.

The kids and I got back on the saddle in the spring, and in May I organized Bike to School month at Adams Elementary with the help of Cascade Bicycle Club. We encouraged kids and parents to reduce their carbon footprint and gasoline usage by walking, biking, scootering, or taking the bus. 85 kids signed up and we totaled over 1,200 trip reductions for the month! Wow! That doesn’t even count the trip reductions of parents who may have continued on from school on foot or bike. And, when May ended, I am happy to report, the bike racks stayed full!

In October, I will be organizing Walk to School month, again with Cascade. I’m hoping to incorporate a bike safety curriculum into our PE classes, get bikes into the hands of our economically challenged students, start a bike club for the kids, and a weekly social ride for the parents. Maybe a little friendly trip reduction competition between classes.

Lots of ideas…and no more cigarettes.

—PENNY WEBB lives in Ballard and plays bass in the Kegels.

RESOURCES:
Adams Elementary School
Cascade Bicycle Club
Cancer Lifeline
Cancer information
Quit smoking