PROVIDENCE — State Sen. Tiara Mack signed on to “Week Without Driving” for the first time this year.
Mack, a Democrat representing District 6 in Providence, is not a stranger to public transportation, living near the R-Line and Kennedy Plaza.
“I take public transportation as much as I can,” she said. She frequently walks, bicycles, and hops on Rhode Island Public Transit Authority buses, and this summer, she tried the ferry for the first time on her way back from the Newport Jazz Festival.
But going completely car-free, as the national challenge urges, was not without its obstacles.
“I will admit it’s a little difficult,” she told ecoRI News midway through the challenge that lasted from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6.
She described how getting to three events in one night wasn’t easy without a car. But it was still a better option than driving or taking a ride share. She said she likes to view RIPTA as a “personal limousine,” chauffeuring her home safely and cheaply after a night out.
Riding RIPTA home after an event hosted by the Providence Streets Coalition to celebrate a Week Without Driving, Mack said the $2 fare is much better than a $20 Uber.
Mack was among several officials who signed up for the challenge.
Last year, participants from 41 states and the District of Columbia, including 300 elected and public officials, signed up for a Week Without Driving, with the idea of showing those who do drive what it’s like for those who can’t.
“If you can drive or afford a car, you may not understand what it’s like to rely on walking, rolling, transit and asking for rides,” the organization noted on its website. “But for nearly a third of people living in the United States — people with disabilities, young people, seniors and people who can’t afford cars or gas — this is our every day.”
State Rep. Katherine Kazarian, a Democrat representing District 63 in East Providence and Pawtucket, said even before Week Without Driving started, she has been using the new Pawtucket/Central Falls Train Station to take the commuter rail to Boston for work.
“I do own a car, but my regular practice is never drive to Boston, if I can help it,” she said. “One, the traffic is terrible. Two, with unproductive time, I’m just sitting in a car by myself, and, you know, I’m not able to do anything else. It’s also stressful.”
In addition to her commute, Kazarian said her walkable neighborhood makes it easier to visit her mother, who lives nearby, by foot or bicycle a few times a week.
Colby O’Hanley, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s principal bike and pedestrian planner, also signed up for Week Without Driving and took advantage of the challenge to bike around Rhode Island last week.
“Biking has been my friend this week,” he wrote in an email to ecoRI News. “Normally, I would drive from my home in Jamestown to Wickford Station and take the train into Providence. Fortunately, I live near a RIPTA bus stop and was able to make use of that service to make my connection to the train at Wickford Junction.”
O’Hanley, Kazarian, and Mack said the week helped them see the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s current transportation system.
New at RIDOT, O’Hanley signed up for the challenge to get a better idea of how the state could more effectively and inclusively implement its multimodal projects.
Mack said she wishes there was more transit service, something her constituents tell her and she experiences firsthand when she has to walk down a steep hill to catch the bus because of a defunct line on Camp Street.
Although going car-free is a wonderful choice, “our infrastructure doesn’t allow us to make that decision” all the time, she said.
Mack hoped signing up for the program would debunk some of the assumptions that only certain people ride the bus. “A lot of people don’t realize that elected officials are just like them,” she said.
Kazarian said she would like to see more bike lanes added and more projects like the new Pawtucket/Central Falls commuter rail station, which are “rider-centric,” be implemented in Rhode Island, something she believes is more likely as more legislators are recognizing the importance of multimodal communities.
Overall, she said she was glad to sign up for the Week Without Driving to try to add more to a growing conversation in the state and on Capitol Hill.
“The conversations about it have gotten elevated,” Kazarian said. “I hear more talking about the importance of public transportation and investing in it.”
