By Ruth Rosas
Week With out Driving has grown from an initiative getting elected officers from Washington state to take part to now having worldwide contributors. Just lately, we related with Wendy Nash from Get Round Caboolture: Extra transport choices, much less problem. Wendy determined to carry Week With out Driving to Queensland Australia, and we sat down along with her to talk about what impressed her, the challenges of organizing in a peri-urban group and the way she’s utilizing the Week With out Driving to spark change in an Australian context and why it’s so vital to nondrivers all over the place.
A Dialog with Wendy Nash
Ruth Rosas (RR): Wendy, thanks a lot for becoming a member of us! To start out, may you inform us your title, the place you’re from, and what your group does?
Wendy Nash (WN): My title’s Wendy Nash, and I at present reside in Caboolture, which is correct on the city fringe of Brisbane, in Queensland, on the east coast of Australia. I wasn’t raised right here, I’ve lived in Europe and in Sydney, so once I moved to Caboolture, I used to be actually shocked by the bus service. It’s a 10-minute drive to some locations, however 40 minutes by bus, and I simply puzzled, ‘What do individuals who can’t drive do?’ That’s why I began this work, to spotlight the challenges nondrivers face and to discover methods to make issues safer and extra accessible.
RR: What position do you suppose group performs in making alternate options to driving extra accessible?
WN: I believe we vastly underestimate the affect of the group on council and State authorities. If you happen to’re one individual, you may have one vote, and in Australia voting is obligatory, however when you may have a gaggle of 10 individuals, that’s 10 votes, which could unfold to 100. You will have extra scope for affect than you think about. The bottom line is to return throughout as pleasant and unified—mums, incapacity teams, girls of their fifties, retirees, whomever. If you happen to carry totally different voices collectively, you possibly can push for safer streets and higher transport as a result of elected officers begin paying consideration.
RR: Week With out Driving began in Washington State. How did you hear about it?
WN: It was Anna Zivarts’s e book, When Driving is Not an Possibility, and a put up on LinkedIn that basically caught my consideration. I believed, ‘That’s what we’d like right here.’ Many individuals don’t notice how difficult it’s when you possibly can’t drive. If you happen to lose your license otherwise you by no means had one, you instantly see how onerous it may be to navigate day by day life. That’s what impressed me to begin Australia’s model of the Week With out Driving.
Week With out Driving in Australia
RR: What was it like internet hosting a Week With out Driving in Australia?
WN: We had our official launch, and one among our State MPs deliberate a day with out driving. He missed his bus instantly, which meant he needed to stroll again, after which schedule additional time to stroll to appointments or carpool. He instructed me later it took approach longer than he thought. It was inconvenient, however he additionally loved having time to mirror. By the tip of the day, he actually acquired it, and it modified his perspective on how a lot we’d like higher public transport.
RR: You talked about individuals’s robust reactions to limiting driving. What’s been your group’s response?
WN: I’ve had some destructive responses. Driving can really feel virtually like an dependancy, you’re taking it away and other people get upset. However others discovered it actually fascinating. I had somebody come as much as me and say, ‘I heard about your Week With out Driving… what an awesome thought!’ I believe it helps when individuals perceive that 3 or 4 in each 10 individuals could be nondrivers, whether or not they’re youngsters, older adults, or simply can’t afford it. Realizing it’s not only a fringe concern makes them extra supportive.
RR: What’s your imaginative and prescient for increasing Week With out Driving in your area?
WN: I wish to see plenty of small group teams throughout Queensland do it collectively. Queensland is big—concerning the dimension of Alaska—so that you want native hubs, not only one huge occasion. I additionally inform individuals: you don’t need to do the entire week. If you happen to simply spend a day strolling round your neighborhood, noticing sidewalks or how lengthy it’s a must to wait to cross close to a college, that’s progress. If you happen to don’t do something, nothing modifications. However by doing even just a little, you contribute to an even bigger shift.
RR: Any final recommendation for somebody contemplating Week With out Driving for the primary time?
WN: Don’t really feel pressured to surrender driving for the complete week. Concentrate on consciousness, possibly you trip the bus as soon as or stroll a couple of blocks you normally drive. Discover the velocity of site visitors, what number of secure crossings you may have, or the noise degree. Even signing up and reflecting in your neighborhood could make an enormous distinction. When individuals present up, it sends a message that nondriver points matter.
If you want to study extra about Wendy’s work, hold a watch out for her podcast, Streets & Folks, the place she hosts inspiring conversations with company from everywhere in the world on accessible transit, decrease velocity limits, community-led change, all aimed toward reimagining mobility in ways in which profit everybody. You can even discover Get Round Caboolture on Fb the place she shares inspiring updates concerning the constructive modifications occurring worldwide. The web page is personal to keep up a centered, uplifting, and spam-free setting, in addition to LinkedIn!
Wendy’s phrases remind us how highly effective change usually begins with a small shift in perspective and mindset. By harnessing the collective energy of teams, momentarily experiencing firsthand day by day journey as a nondriver, and recognizing that numerous people from youngsters to older adults can’t drive, we are able to start to remodel our streets into safer, extra accessible areas for everybody.
