Our Projects: Undriving and Undriver Licensing
Sustainable Ballard's Undriving Program playfully engages people's curiosity and creativity to experiment with reducing their car use or the car use on the planet. At festivals, schools, and community events, we issue official Undriver Licenses to people of all ages.
Everyone's an Undriver or potential Undriver - whether they drive 100 miles a day or don't own a car. To get licensed, people make a pledge (big or small) to experiment with walking, busing, biking, or carpooling for a specific activity in the coming month, and see what they discover. Undrivers receive a customized Undriver License with their own photo and signature, as well as Undriving resources and free bus tickets courtesy of King County METRO.
In our follow-up surveys, over 70% of Undrivers have reported that their Undriving pledge led to a new transportation habit or pattern. They consistently discover one or more of the benefits of Undriving, some of them unexpected: less stress, more exercise, saving money, increased sense of community, more connection with the elements, no parking hassles, and even more time. As time goes on Undriving becomes a practice, with increasing awareness continually leading to more sustainable choices…in transportation as well as in other arenas of daily living.
The Undriver Licensing Station made its debut at the 4th Annual Sustainable Ballard Festival in September, 2007. Since then we have licensed Undrivers around Seattle and beyond, including at Focus the Nation (University of Washington), Whitman Middle School, Sustainable West Seattle's Festival, and the International "Towards Carfree Cities" Conference held in Portland in June 2008. We hope to create an Undriving movement! If you are interested in bringing Undriving to your event, school, or workplace, please contact us.
For more information on Undriving, visit our website at http://undriving.sustainableballard.org or email julia@sustainableballard.org.