photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Sonoma County Transit's route 24 Sebastopol shuttle bus.

Sonoma County's "Week Without Driving" happened this month.

To experience the educational campaign, KRCB News tagged along with Santa Rosa Junior College President Angélica Garcia for a car-less morning commute across Santa Rosa.

It took some advance coordination, but on a crisp and cloudy Friday morning, Garcia hopped on Santa Rosa's route 8 bus at 4th Street and Farmers Lane, rounding out a week of commutes without driving.

"I feel like I'm having flashbacks to when I was a kid and having to like be on a ride with someone," Garcia said. "Or college days trying to figure out like how to get places."

Garcia was one of 15 local elected and education officials to take part in Sonoma County's Week Without Driving.

The Week Without Driving campaign started in Washington state in 2021, and has since spread across the country.

It's an effort spearheaded by disability rights advocates to get elected officials to experience what daily life is like for people without a car; or as is the case with Garcia, who is recovering from knee surgery, people with mobility issues.

"I have become so much more aware of ADA accessible things working," Garcia said. "Not just on campus but just walking around the city, or you know [just] kind of living my life."

Elected officials in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, and Petaluma all pledged to take part in this year's Sonoma County Week Without Driving, as well as Sonoma County supervisors Chris Coursey, and James Gore, who said in recent social media video, the Week Without Driving was, "not just a celebration but a challenge for all of us."

"Not to be purists," Gore said. "But to get out and try and get on our bikes, walk, move around and not just get in our cars."

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins who's plans for a mid-ride interview for this story were scuttled by a late bus, told KRCB improving bus timeliness is just one aspect she hopes Sonoma County Transit can improve on.

Back on the Santa Rosa City Bus, Laisa, a Santa Rosa Junior College student, said she frequently takes advantage of the free bus pass provided to students.

"It helps a lot with getting to the bus, but sometimes I forget it," Laisa said. "But they know if I'm wearing a backpack, they know I'm a student."

President Garcia noted SRJC has made great efforts to make transit accessible to students. Besides the free bus passes, Garcia said SRJC secured discounted SMART train passes for students, and has even started a program to make SRJC's Shone Farm campus in Forestville accessible to students without a car.

"So, we started this pilot program with Uber," Garcia said. "We were giving [students] Uber vouchers so that they can get from Santa Rosa out there. We weren't sure if students were going to take advantage of it, but we've got a pretty steady stream and their ability to take classes out there has now increased because we're trying to find a way to get them there."

While Garcia said she's not sure Santa Rosa Junior College will ever make it to the level of a UC Davis when it comes to bike and pedestrian student mobility, she said the Week Without Driving was a great eye opener to how important safe and reliable transport is, not just for students, but everyone who doesn't rely on a car.