EBOOK
About
One third of people living in the United States do not have a driver license. Because the majority of involuntary nondrivers are disabled, lower income, unhoused, formerly incarcerated, undocumented immigrants, kids, young people, and the elderly, they are largely invisible. The consequence of this invisibility is a mobility system designed almost exclusively for drivers. This system has human-health, environmental, and quality-of-life costs for everyone, not just for those excluded from it. If we're serious about addressing climate change and inequality, we must address our transportation system.
In When Driving is Not an Option disability advocate Anna Letitia Zivarts shines a light on the number of people in the US who cannot drive and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone.
Drawing from interviews with involuntary nondrivers from around the US and from her own experience, Zivarts explains how nondrivers get around and the changes necessary to make our communities more accessible. These changes include improving sidewalk connectivity; providing reliable and affordable transit and paratransit; creating more options for biking, scooting, and wheeling; building more affordable and accessible housing; and the understanding the unrecognized burden of asking and paying for rides.
Zivarts shows that it is critical to include people who can't drive in transportation planning decisions. She outlines steps that organizations can take to include and promote leadership of those who are most impacted-and too often excluded-by transportation systems designed by and run by people who can drive. The book ends with a checklist of actions that you, as an individual living in a car-dependent society, can take in your own life to help all of us move beyond automobility.
When the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities, not only will we be able to more easily get where we need to go, but the changes will lead to healthier, climate-friendly communities for everyone. ""Zivarts punctuates the hard data and research with people's personal stories, creating a deeply humanized analysis of the scattered and often dangerous state of nondriving transportation in our nation and how we can make things better….In case it isn't obvious, the book is a must-read."" ""For much of my adult life I've been among the voluntary nondrivers. I have also had periods when due to disability I've been unable to drive, and as a senior I anticipate a time, coming soon, when I won't be able to drive. But in recounting the experiences of the wide range of nondrivers she has worked with, Zivarts offers many perspectives that were new to me…. Zivarts' book is excellent in describing specific problems, and equally good at linking the issues of mobility justice to other struggles. So we learn about the connections between car-dependent transport policies and housing affordability, the inequitable distribution of environmental hazards, and the challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation."" "
"This volume compellingly argues that the US needs to remedy its serious problem with transportation and planning systems to create more equitable and economically efficient structures that would ultimately benefit all citizens…. The research and unabashed advocacy here are thorough and fascinating, viewed through kaleidoscopic lenses of urban planning, disability, equity, race, economics, and environmental studies."
" ""Her book pulls the chair out from under the assumption that everyone in the United States drives a car…Although I consider myself a transit activist, Zivarts's book made me feel like a beginner all over again. It is an invitation to drivers to be in solidarity with nondrivers, to imagine being in their places for a moment, and to make decisions w
In When Driving is Not an Option disability advocate Anna Letitia Zivarts shines a light on the number of people in the US who cannot drive and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone.
Drawing from interviews with involuntary nondrivers from around the US and from her own experience, Zivarts explains how nondrivers get around and the changes necessary to make our communities more accessible. These changes include improving sidewalk connectivity; providing reliable and affordable transit and paratransit; creating more options for biking, scooting, and wheeling; building more affordable and accessible housing; and the understanding the unrecognized burden of asking and paying for rides.
Zivarts shows that it is critical to include people who can't drive in transportation planning decisions. She outlines steps that organizations can take to include and promote leadership of those who are most impacted-and too often excluded-by transportation systems designed by and run by people who can drive. The book ends with a checklist of actions that you, as an individual living in a car-dependent society, can take in your own life to help all of us move beyond automobility.
When the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities, not only will we be able to more easily get where we need to go, but the changes will lead to healthier, climate-friendly communities for everyone. ""Zivarts punctuates the hard data and research with people's personal stories, creating a deeply humanized analysis of the scattered and often dangerous state of nondriving transportation in our nation and how we can make things better….In case it isn't obvious, the book is a must-read."" ""For much of my adult life I've been among the voluntary nondrivers. I have also had periods when due to disability I've been unable to drive, and as a senior I anticipate a time, coming soon, when I won't be able to drive. But in recounting the experiences of the wide range of nondrivers she has worked with, Zivarts offers many perspectives that were new to me…. Zivarts' book is excellent in describing specific problems, and equally good at linking the issues of mobility justice to other struggles. So we learn about the connections between car-dependent transport policies and housing affordability, the inequitable distribution of environmental hazards, and the challenges of climate mitigation and adaptation."" "
"This volume compellingly argues that the US needs to remedy its serious problem with transportation and planning systems to create more equitable and economically efficient structures that would ultimately benefit all citizens…. The research and unabashed advocacy here are thorough and fascinating, viewed through kaleidoscopic lenses of urban planning, disability, equity, race, economics, and environmental studies."
" ""Her book pulls the chair out from under the assumption that everyone in the United States drives a car…Although I consider myself a transit activist, Zivarts's book made me feel like a beginner all over again. It is an invitation to drivers to be in solidarity with nondrivers, to imagine being in their places for a moment, and to make decisions w