Long Beach’s alternative transportation advocacy group, Car-Lite Long Beach, is participating in the national Week Without Driving challenge, and inviting others to join the journey.
From Monday, Sept. 30 to Monday, Oct. 7, members of Car-Lite Long Beach will ditch their cars for bikes, buses, scooters and the occasional carpool request. The goal is to “experience the world through the lens of non-drivers,” and all the challenges and small wonders that come with it.
Week Without Driving began in Washington in 2021, from a disability rights group challenging people to go through daily life without being able to drive. In 2023, the movement became national.
Roughly 30% of adult Americans don’t drive, according to automotive marketing agency Hedges & Company. This can be due to age, health reasons, financial reasons or by personal preference. Car-Lite Long Beach, made up of dozens of Long Beach residents, has been advocating for safer streets for pedestrians and bikers as well as increased alternative transportation.
“It’s about having people have that moment of like ‘It’s not impossible to not have a car,’” said Erin Hoops, an organizer with Car-Lite Long Beach. “In my ideal world, I think it’s people realizing that you just really need to plan ahead for specific things like getting to the doctors or going to the store and getting a bag of dog food.”
This year marks the first time Car-Lite Long Beach is participating in the national Week Without Driving. Last year, 142 local organizations across 41 states participated in the week-long challenge, according to its website.
The organization reached out to local politicians and leaders to ask if they would like to participate and have not received any commitments yet, Hoops said. Week Without Driving reported on their website that over 300 politicians participated last year, helping to bring awareness to their communities.
“Elected officials can post on their social medias and share their experience and at the end of the week, share if it was how they expected or not,” Hoops said. “Politicians who have done it, a lot of them were surprised. The lessons they learned were not the lessons they thought they were going to learn.”
A Costa Mesa councilmember spent the entire week walking to their destinations last year, and a town in Nebraska offered free public transit rides throughout the week.
The experience will widely vary depending on what part of the city someone lives in, due to access to public transportation, the amount of green space in the area and the number and types of trees providing shade to someone as they travel. Politicians participating in this challenge are meant to face this reality as well.
Hoops said youth are one of the groups that often get overlooked when talking about the need for alternative transportation and investment in safe walking streets.
“The independence of getting around your city is something a lot of young people are missing out on and I think that’s a key part of development and a way for all of us to build empathy and give our young people a way to learn,” Hoops said.
Car-Lite Long Beach will be posting their experiences throughout the week, as they opt in for alternative modes of transportation. Residents can follow their journeys on Instagram @carlitelb.
Residents can take the pledge to participate in the Week Without Driving by signing up online as an individual, organization, transportation professional or elected official.
