"When Driving Is Not An Option" Book Talk with author Anna Zivarts

Start: 2025-09-17 18:00:00 UTC Pacific Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-07:00)

End: 2025-09-17 19:00:00 UTC Pacific Daylight Time (US & Canada) (GMT-07:00)

A link to attend this virtual event will be emailed upon RSVP

A Bay Area and SoCal Transit Month Event!

Join Transbay Coalition's book club for a talk with the author of "When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency" Anna Zivarts (bio)! The virtual event is open to all and will feature a moderated discussion about this book and then have an open Q&A.

Whether or not you have read the book already, we encourage you to tune in to the event. If you don't have the book, use code WEBINAR at islandpress.org/books/when-driving-not-option

for 30% off at checkout.

About the book:

One third of people living in the United States do not have a driver license. Because the majority of involuntary nondrivers are disabled, lower income, unhoused, formerly incarcerated, undocumented immigrants, kids, young people, and the elderly, they are largely invisible. The consequence of this invisibility is a mobility system designed almost exclusively for drivers. This system has human-health, environmental, and quality-of-life costs for everyone, not just for those excluded from it. If we’re serious about addressing climate change and inequality, we must address our transportation system.

In When Driving is Not an Option disability advocate Anna Letitia Zivarts shines a light on the number of people in the US who cannot drive and explains how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone.

Drawing from interviews with involuntary nondrivers from around the US and from her own experience, Zivarts explains how nondrivers get around and the changes necessary to make our communities more accessible. These changes include improving sidewalk connectivity; providing reliable and affordable transit and paratransit; creating more options for biking, scooting, and wheeling; building more affordable and accessible housing; and the understanding the unrecognized burden of asking and paying for rides.

Zivarts shows that it is critical to include people who can’t drive in transportation planning decisions. She outlines steps that organizations can take to include and promote leadership of those who are most impacted—and too often excluded—by transportation systems designed by and run by people who can drive. The book ends with a checklist of actions that you, as an individual living in a car-dependent society, can take in your own life to help all of us move beyond automobility.

When the needs of involuntary nondrivers are viewed as essential to how we design our transportation systems and our communities, not only will we be able to more easily get where we need to go, but the changes will lead to healthier, climate-friendly communities for everyone.

Special thanks to Access for helping make this event possible. Access Paratransit operates seven days a week, 24 hours of the day in most areas of Los Angeles County. It is a shared ride service that is curb-to-curb and utilizes a fleet of small buses, mini-vans and taxis. Fares are distance-based and range from $2.75 to $3.50 for each one-way trip. Personal Care Attendants may ride with the qualified rider free. Learn more at https://accessla.org/

Additional Sponsors

Move California

Move LA

Registration is Closed