WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

This overlay information can help planners focus dollars on filling in the gaps or rerouting transit to better serve everyone in the community, including the 31 percent who don't drive, according to WisDOT's analysis.

Anna Zivarts, author of When Driving is Not an Option, says a simple way to value the experience of nondrivers is to put yourself in someone else's shoes, like a person trying to cross an eight-lane arterial, while negotiating mud puddles and overgrown bushes along the edge of a road with no sidewalks.

Or, try pledging to ditch your car and rely only on public transit for a few days.

 

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

Anna Zivarts' book -- When Driving is Not an Option  -- offers a useful tool. The OpenSidewalks project at the University of Washington's Taskar Center for Accessible Technology uses open data sources, verified by on-the-ground community audits, to map sidewalk networks.

It goes beyond a typical Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) assessment, empowering planners and others with information about sidewalk slope, minimal effective width, and lighting.

Zivarts details how in 2020, disability advocates convinced Wisconsin's Department of Transportation (WisDOT) to form a nondriver advisory committee.

"When you overlay where the transit is, where the routes are, and where the stops are with where people who are nondrivers actually live, those two things don't overlap," committee co-chair Tamara Jackson says in the book.

"This forces transportation planners to consider whether people are unable to use transit because 'it doesn't go where they need to go, or they can't get to it.'"

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

Tanisha Sepúlveda is a program coordinator at Empower Movement WA, a collective that advocates for disability justice, transportation equity, and community access.

A power wheelchair user who lives in Seattle, she often relies on bus and light rail.

The sidewalks near her apartment and the closest bus stop have sections heaved up by tree roots, filled with loose gravel, and lacking curb ramp.

So, she rolls in the street.

"I'll have people yell at me and tell me to get out of the road, sometimes with profanity," Sepúlveda says in the book When Driving is Not an Option.

"I understand it does not look safe to them, and it is not safe, but it is even less safe for me to be on the sidewalks."

INCLUSION ALWAYS IS A BEAUTIFUL THING

WHEN DESIGNERS STOP BEING ABLEIST,

IT CAN BE AESTHETICALLY BREATHTAKING

“Wheelchair ramps are ugly and institutional,” said the ableist architect too lazy to design an elegant access ramp.

“Wheelchair ramps are inelegant and hurt business,” said the foolish business owner shunning 25% of the population that has a disability.

This wheelchair ramp is chic, stylish, landscaped, lit & practical for accessing multiple levels of the 1930s Park Central Hotel in the heart of Ocean Drive on Miami Beach.

Ramps are beautiful & welcoming.

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

There have been small successes in funding transit, sidewalks, pathways, and connectivity.

In 2022, the Washington State legislature passed a $17 billion transportation package that included $5.2 billion for transit, bike, and pedestrian projects.

It was the first time multimodal investments were larger than highway capacity expansion funding.

Improving transit can help nondrivers and everybody else, says Author Anna Zivarts.

In her book, When Driving is Not an Option, she recounts dozens of anecdotes of people enduring long, frustrating transit trips or not being able to access it at all.

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

In 2023, 7,318 people were killed by vehicles, a 14 percent increase over 2019, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

It also reported 1,149 bicyclists were killed on U.S. roadways in 2023, up four percent from 2022.

Safety is a major concern. Author Anna Zivarts — an avid cyclist — says she's seen a disproportionate number of deaths and injuries among those who bike, walk, and roll.

City, county, and state departments of transportation need to plan for safe multimodal mobility from the start, she says, not leave it as an afterthought.

That means funding mobility appropriately.

Transit, sidewalks, pathways, and connectivity should be weighted equally with multibillion-dollar bridge and highway projects, she argues.

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

People of color, those with low incomes, immigrants, and people with disabilities tend to have lower rates of car ownership.

They also have less housing, mobility, and job options. 

Fewer than 25 percent of working-age adults who are disabled work full- or part-time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared to 66 percent of non-disabled adults.

In many cases, it is not the underlying disability that stifles employment, but rather the lack of transportation access to fulfilling work opportunities and financial independence.

 

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

Author Anna Zivarts — who was born with nystagmus, a genetic condition that means her eyes are always shaking, affecting her vision and preventing her from driving — is the program director of the Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington.

A community organizer by profession, she redoubled her efforts to fight for better pedestrian mobility when she learned her son has the same low vision condition she has.

She says she gets a lot of pushback when talking about the number of nondrivers — adding that some studies, including from Washington and Wisconsin, place the number closer to 30 percent.

But she believes planners, policymakers, and others need to start seeing and engaging with nondrivers, understanding the needs of this significant chunk of the population, and including nondrivers in transportation planning decisions.

They also need to make roads safer for everybody, and she lays out changes planners can make in her book -- When Driving is Not an Option.

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

"The big theme of book is there are a lot of nondrivers — way more of us than people realize,"

When Driving is Not an Option Author Anna Zivarts said in an interview with Planning Magazine, noting that nondrivers are often ignored, stigmatized, or treated like second-class citizens.

"If we recognized that disability, income, age, and other factors mean that at least 25 percent of people in the U.S. are nondrivers, we could create much more inclusive communities."

 

 

WHEN DRIVING IS NOT AN OPTION

STEERING AWAY FROM CAR DEPENDENCY

More than a quarter of the people that planners in the U.S. design for do not drive cars.

Anna Letitia Zivarts is one of them.

Her Island Press book, When Driving is Not an Option, published earlier this year, aims to rethink the way we plan cities.

While many planners are working toward reducing car dependency and boosting multimodal mobility, Zivarts believes it will take a seismic and largely political shift to retrofit cities in a way that values those who walk, roll, bike, and use transit to get around.

WHEN ARCHITECTS AND PLANNERS CREATE MINIMUM WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

THEY CREATE MAXIMIM DENIAL OF BASIC RIGHTS

FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

 

This is what happens when clueless architects & feckless city regulators allow one wheelchair accessible access point at each end of a super block.

Restaurants block the access to create more dining space.

This is 1900 block of Miami’s Calle8.

All those who cannot go up steps, have to journey four times the distance shown in this image to the eastern ramp hidden on a side avenue.

El Toro Loco is violating the ADA and destroying mobility for people with disabilities with its selfish blocking of the accessible route.

In Town Miami, the company that leases the space to the offending restaurant MUST open the accessible route immediately.

The City of Miami has 100% neglected to fix this – refusing to protect our seniors and people with disabilities.

UNITED SPINAL’S ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES HELPS

MUSEUMS TO BECOME DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE

Matt Castelluccio -- Vice President of Community Support for United Spinal -- said thousands of museums could benefit from duplicating NYSCI’s immersive exhibit, which explores technology while approaching disability as an everyday part of life.

He especially praised a sit-ski experience that replicated the Paralympic sport.

In a time trial run, kids could virtually slalom between the flags and down the giant slope.

“All these kids were asking my boys about mobility because they saw me using a wheelchair,” said Matt.

“My boys get it, but I think about hundreds of people that day who left the exhibit with an appreciation and understanding of life with a disability.”

And not just that day.

“Think about every day the museum is open.

How many people who might not have direct experience with disability – how they walk away with such a positive experience.”

 

UNITED SPINAL’S ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES HELPS

MUSEUMS TO BECOME DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE

“One of the things that has emerged is quiet rooms or spaces, where a person on the spectrum can avoid the roar of the crowd,” says Kleo King, the Senior Director of Accessibility Operations for United Spinal’s Accessibility Services and a NYSCI board member.

Braille signage and wayfinding are a must, as well as infrared hearing loops at ticket counters, concessions, and more.

At the disability-inclusive Human Plus exhibit, visitors can virtually sit-ski the Alps.

Dana Schloss, Associate Vice President of Exhibits at NYSCI, notes that the building was built six decades ago for the World’s Fair, long before the ADA was enacted.

However, NYSCI leadership constantly develops programming and facilities that include people with a full range of disabilities.

“We have redone a lot of the museum in the last six years.

We’re thinking of inclusivity in all exhibits and all parts of the building,” she said.

“We think about Universal Design all the time. 

We know that ADA compliance is the beginning. NYSCI aims to offer an inclusive design for all.”

UNITED SPINAL’S ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES HELPS

MUSEUMS TO BECOME DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE

Accessibility Services teamed up with the Buffalo Bills to build a stadium that exceeds the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Today, Accessibility Services is working on the first-ever soccer-specific stadium in New York City.

The 25,000-seat stadium for the New York City FC Major League Soccer team is projected to open in 2027.

Designed by HOK, it is next to Citi Field and part of a mixed-use project featuring thousands of affordable housing units.

When the ADA was enacted in 1990, most public facilities first considered access for wheelchair users.

However, Accessibility Services has always addressed compliance and innovative solutions to create a more inclusive environment for all people with disabilities.

UNITED SPINAL’S ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES HELPS

MUSEUMS TO BECOME DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE

“The Hall of Science is very conscientious about accessibility,” says Kleo King.

She is the Senior Director of Accessibility Operations for United Spinal’s Accessibility Services and a NYSCI board member.

“When the Hall of Science gets funding for capital upgrades, they never say, ‘We are doing this because we have to comply.’

Instead, it’s a very upfront, ‘we want to upgrade for better access and inclusion.’”

One of Accessibility Services’ larger projects is at the same MTA subway stop as the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park grounds that host the NYSCI facility.

Citi Field, home of the New York Mets and other events that take advantage of its 40,000-plus seats, opened in 2009 to replace Shea Stadium.

Accessibility Services consulted with famed stadium architectural firm Populous to gather information from a full range of people with disabilities, design seating in all price ranges and vantage points in the $850,000 ballpark, and more.

UNITED SPINAL’S ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES HELPS

MUSEUMS TO BECOME DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE

“Most kids don’t get to hop in a wheelchair and experience how to navigate in it. It breaks down the stigmas,” said Matt Castelluccio -- Vice President of Community Support for United Spinal -- about Human Plus’s wheelchair exhibit.

“I was also impressed that it wasn’t just a tiny, temporary exhibit like some places do to observe a disability awareness month.

This full-scale, immersive exhibit presents disability and adaptations as part of the bigger picture of science.”

Matt sent photos of the disability-inclusive exhibit to fellow advocates at United Spinal, which is how he discovered that his coworker Kleo King helped make it happen.

 

UNITED SPINAL’S ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES HELPS

MUSEUMS TO BECOME DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE

Matthew Castelluccio was interested in an outing with his wife Elaine and twin 12-year-old sons Dominic and RJ for Veterans Day when he settled on the New York Hall of Science.

While there, the family came upon Human Plus, an exhibit on disability and adaptive technology.

“My kids grew up knowing me as a wheelchair user,” says Matt, Vice President of Community Support for United Spinal.

“They are familiar with adaptations and my mobility.

But it was mind-blowing to come across a technology- and disability-related exhibit.”

The exhibit features a white cane navigation pathway demonstrating low-vision mobility.

It also offers an auditory experience featuring the pulse of music to demonstrate how people experience music without fully hearing it.

There are also prosthetic exhibits, and visitors can design their own wheelchairs.

DANGEROUS BY DESIGN

PROTECTING UTILIITES FROM CARS TAKES PRIORITY

OVER PROTECTING HUMANS FROM BEING RUN OVER

This is the “I know I’m doing a bad thing” approach to sidewalk design.

Government plants streetlights on sidewalk.

So vulnerable pedestrians are shoved closer to dangerous Miami traffic.

Location is Coral Way, a designated scenic (but apparently unsafe for pedestrians) corridor. 

APA HOTEL AKIHABARA EKIKITA

SUPER QUIET AND EFFICIENT MICRO ROOM

AT FABULOUS PRICE POINT FOR A GLOBAL CITY

AKA Hotel Akihabara Ekikita said it is a rule in Japan to change over the room every third day.

I had requested an extra flat sheet on arrival.

And I emailed to remind them. 

But each night, I would come home late and find zero flat sheets.

The every third day service robbed me of my ability to have the sheets customized the way I liked them...and it had me begging for extra sheets then waiting for them in the wee hours.

APA HOTEL AKIHABARA EKIKITA

SUPER QUIET AND EFFICIENT MICRO ROOM

AT FABULOUS PRICE POINT FOR A GLOBAL CITY

The rooms at AKA Hotel Akihabara Ekikita have no individual temperature control.

Even on freezing nights, I would crack the window a few hours to cool things down.

They also can lend you a space heater if the one-size-fits-all temp is cold and you need to warm up.

I found it super odd that the hallways are open to the elements. 

I'm from Miami where its 80F and I arrived to far below 40F.  

Having rain and cold open air was odd for the hallways.

APA HOTEL AKIHABARA EKIKITA

SUPER QUIET AND EFFICIENT MICRO ROOM

AT FABULOUS PRICE POINT FOR A GLOBAL CITY

The staff at AKA Hotel Akihabara Ekikita uses google translate to speak English.

I found it best to type requests in advance on Booking.com messaging -- so they could feed it into translate app and provide me with answers and service.

They recommended some nice locals and chain restaurants.

I paid well under $100 USD for a modern, efficient room in one of the biggest cities on earth. I wish I could do that in NYC.

I would book at another AKA hotel (there are dozens in Tokyo alone) in a heartbeat.

APA HOTEL AKIHABARA EKIKITA

SUPER QUIET AND EFFICIENT MICRO ROOM

AT FABULOUS PRICE POINT FOR A GLOBAL CITY 

A mini fridge in the room at AKA Hotel Akihabara Ekikita was a great bonus. 

I brought home milk, berries and snacks from a 24-hour full-sized grocery about 5 minutes’ walk from the property.

It was about a 12 minute walk to the train station and an equal distance to the joys of Electric Town's gadgets, photo shops, anime, manga, etc.

The immediate area is very low key, so no noise at night.

 

APA HOTEL AKIHABARA EKIKITA

SUPER QUIET AND EFFICIENT MICRO ROOM

AT FABULOUS PRICE POINT FOR A GLOBAL CITY

My room at AKA Hotel Akihabara Ekikita was super quiet and my bed was perfectly firm and comfortable.

There's a great flat screen TV with tons of free VOD.

The tub-shower was clean and worked for a soak after a long day of work.

There seemed to be endless hot water, which I really love.

APA HOTEL AKIHABARA EKIKITA

SUPER QUIET AND EFFICIENT MICRO ROOM

AT FABULOUS PRICE POINT FOR A GLOBAL CITY

I'm used to micro rooms, so I did not feel cramped in the AKA Hotel Akihabara Ekikita.

Everything is super-efficient with plenty of regular electrical and USB outlets -- some right at the bed and others at the desk.

They give you the coolest fold our hair comb, a great toothbrush and razor plus a comfy bath robe.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IS ESSENTIAL IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

BUT A POOR CHOICE OF MATERIALS HURTS

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

A safe haven for pedestrians in the middle of busy, 4-lane Washington Avenue at Lincoln Road in Miami Beach is a great idea.

But using dozens of tiny pavers IS NOT.

It creates a tripping hazard.

We have no idea what an uneven, treacherous surface brings to the table.

Especially in a high density, high foot traffic (96 Walk Score) area that needs easy mobility.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

REALTORS® understand the importance of Universal Design.

In Illinois, the Heartland REALTOR® Organization used a $15,000 housing opportunity grant from the NAR and partnered with the city of Woodstock, Ill., the Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 and Illinois REALTORS® to build a prototype model home.

It will incorporate Universal Design elements that will be used as a national model to educate communities about building with “Universal Design from the ground up.”

Upon completion, tours of the home’s features will be promoted to the public.

The prototype is being used to ignite interest in new inventory for homes that are designed to allow aging in place.

The project has drawn interest from AARP and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

 

UNIVERSAL DESIGN:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

More aggressive policing of blocked sidewalks and bike lanes is a simple policy change.

Calming traffic can be achieved with restriping and simple redesign. Visitability simply requires a change in code.

Paying for retrofitting housing for accessibility can be folded into standard economic development incentives that virtually all cities offer.

Transit training can be refocused to ensure drivers are serving disabled passengers safely.

Adding elevators to century-old transit systems is expensive, but there are billions in federal dollars available for this.

 

UNIVERSAL DESIGN:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

In less dense cities, the problem often is a lack of accessible/protected-from-the-elements bus stops.

And if a bus driver is not well trained in deploying lifts or in safely using tie downs for those in assistive mobility devices, the benefits of rapid transit are destroyed for the 80 million people with a disability in the United States.

Without transit, multiple generations cannot connect to exchange ideas, gather healthy food, keep fit or break the boundaries of isolation.

Simply taking away benches along streets, in an ill-intended attempt to reduce use by homeless people, can prevent an elderly person from staying healthy by walking a half dozen blocks to the library, grocery store or neighborhood shop.

People cannot age in place if their housing, sidewalks, transit, parks and civic buildings exclude them.

Children cannot safely move about the community independently if sidewalks are blocked by parked cars, bike lanes are blocked by delivery trucks and streets are too dangerous to cross because of speeding traffic.

 

 

UNIVERSAL DESIGN:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

Transit must be frequent and accessible.

Author Anna Zivarts’ research has proven that up to one-third of people do not drive.

When Driving Is Not an Option -- Steering Away from Car Dependency is the Island Press book by Zivarts.

Transit can provide mobility for people too young to drive, too old to drive, unable to drive or unable to afford a car.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of older subway stations in New York and elevated trains in Chicago do not have elevators for access.

This makes essential transit off limits not only to wheelchair users, but those who cannot walk tons of steps because of respiratory or pulmonary issues, bad joints or even young children who can’t negotiate stairs.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

When it comes to housing, less than one percent of it is move-in ready for a wheelchair user—and most of that is in multifamily buildings.

Eleanor Smith created Visitability, a concept for accessible housing and for creating a community where people with disabilities can visit their neighbors, a huge factor in creating a cohesive multigenerational neighborhood.

It simply requires a level entrance, accessible bathroom on the first floor and space to maneuver around a kitchen.
It still allows all kinds of unique details and multistory, single-family homes.

Cities that have enacted Visitability have NOT seen a decrease in housing development despite pushback from builders.

Creating accessibility in multifamily buildings can begin with an entrance not obstructed by bikes or scooters, a large elevator and a roll-in/walk-in shower instead of a tub.

Most hip hotel chains aimed at savvy young business travelers have walk-in showers instead of tubs.

This means Universal Design can equal high design, NOT dreary old hospital architecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNIVERSAL DESIGN:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

The late architect, planner and leader Ron Mace created Universal Design as an approach to places and products that make life easier and more inclusive to everybody.

While Mace used a wheelchair for mobility, he very intentionally did NOT call his creation disability design or wheelchair access design.

That’s because a barrier-free built environment works for everybody.

Wide sidewalks with no speed limit signs or utility poles plopped down in the center of them serve everybody of every age.

A street with curb ramps and level entrances to buildings makes life inclusive for people with mobility disabilities but it also makes life easy for those pushing strollers.

A crossing time longer than the standard 30 seconds—to make it safely past four or six lanes of traffic—saves the life of a child who hesitates or bolts away from mom as much as it provides more protection for a wheelchair user rolling to work.

Some cities are raising crosswalks, so they are level with the sidewalk on both sides of the street.

This not only makes it easier for the one in four people that have some level of disability, but it also forces speeding cars to slow down and obey a stop sign or red light.