A. Zivarts
@nondriver
Author, When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency low vision (#nystagmus), bus lover, bike rider annazivarts.com Nondrivers Alliance nondrivers.org Week Without Driving weekwithoutdriving.org
I also really like the visibility of these black and white poles for pedestrian/bike road crossings (note they are lights, to ensure that people crossing are visible at night).
Rather than gates that may be difficult for people with wheelchairs, walkers, bikes or stroller to pull open, what if we considered something like these to warn paedestrians about at-grade light rail crossings in Rainier Valley?
"Nondrivers by default" -- those are the stories we're sharing with our new Nondriver podcast. Tune in wherever you listen, or watch on Youtube. www.youtube.com/@nondriver
Meanwhile, bus service, sidewalks and bike infrastructure are seen as discretionary www.spokanetransit.com/sta-proposit...
Right next to the library where we held our nondriver storytelling event to fight for more Spokane transit funding...this multi-million dollar new and totally unnecessary urban highway construction project. Because Washington State is still stuck in 1953 when it comes to transportation priorities.
Contrast this to Latvia, one of the least developed European countries that builds mutliuse paths through their suburban communities and in rural towns to make sure residents have safe access to transit stops. And they have pedestrian lighting. We could do this here if we chose to.
Great to see @transit.app ads on this #Spokane Transit bus. That's what I'm using to navigate to our nondriver storytelling event tonight! See you 6:30pm at the Hive. There will be snacks!
quantum/AT&T Internet service still not restored. When I asked the AI service bot for help, it responsed with instructions on how to cancel my service
Prem Subedi, UW Planning student and Pierce Transit rider testifies at the transit board meeting in support of increasing transit funding for Pierce County
"Just getting politicians and planners on the bus -- so few of them know what it is not to just take the bus when it's convenient, but to truly rely on this. To have it be your first, third and last option." Catch Una Fonte on @nondriverpodcast.bsky.social podcast www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K_8...
have you tuned into our @nondriverpodcast.bsky.social yet? catch us on Youtube or wherever you listen www.youtube.com/@nondriver
Transit is Freedom! If you live in the Spokane region, come join me, @spokanereimagined.org and @transpochoices.bsky.social for an event July 14 where I lead a discussion about how reliable, frequent and accessible transit shapes the lives of nondrivers. RSVP bit.ly/transitfreedom
knowing the politics with Russia and that, since the Ukrainian invasion, Latvia requires all schools to teach in Latvian instead of Russian, the inclusion of Russian children's books here must be controversial (Russian is the first language for more than a third of the population)
in a bit of culture shock. took the kid to the children's room at the national library in Riga and it's full of kids reading in absolute silence. loving it because I find most loud kid spaces pretty awful, but wow this is a different norm than kid spaces in libraries in the US
I'm working on an article about how Week Without Driving has been useful for disability organizations and advocates. If you've got a story to share, l'd like to talk!
on a bike ride, ended up without knowing about it on this abandoned rail line near Lieapaja, Latvia. The history covered in the station description is wild including Russian Empire ambitious, WWII Trojan horse trains and Soviet-era Bollywood movie trains.
dirt road, paved sidewalk. that's the kind of transportation prioritization I can get behind.
continuing my obsession with rural transit service in Latvia. being able to get almost anywhere in this country reliably on the rural transit network is incredible. I keep looking up what I assume are impossible locations without a car. and it's just not the case.
The scooter share data backs this up - check out SODO, Rainier and MLk on this map
I always learn so much when joining Jonathan Stalls/Pedestrian Dignity on walking events. So lucky to get the chance last week in Milwaukee. They've just extended the deadline for submissions for their civic action zine till Sunday - let's get creative! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...