Yay, Maria!  We asked for more of their story, and here’s her report:

“The lead-up to selling my leased car started last November. I read that greenhouse gas levels are higher than the worst case experts had presented only four years ago.  Now mind you, I had been leasing a Prius, which is great on gas economy. Gas prices were going up though, and the car sat there waiting for weekends while I commuted on public transportation. Meanwhile, my fiancé and I noticed Zipcar stations [around Washington DC] and bemoaned making car and insurance payments.

The dream of no longer promoting this car-centric lifestyle was rolling around in my head for months since I had read that article, even as we followed through on eco-friendly purchasing decisions to buy alternative products that replace or reuse plastics. In March, I sold the leased car and my fiancé and I now rely on public transportation. We’ve read more books, feel relieved and accept the challenges of getting around. We’ve taken our golf clubs on public transportation to get to the course. We’ve conversed more at the bus stop, and on the bus, with riders we may never have had the chance to talk to otherwise.

I applied for my Undriver License a month later as a testament to my carlessness. All bets are off for doing nothing – that deal leads nowhere. We’ve managed to carry our groceries during our commutes on public transportation. Virtual meetings are great because people are trying to save money now anyway and they can eat their favorite snacks at home as we chat online and connect. Having my Undriver License is a fresh start to my life and now I’m back in the driver’s seat.” - Maria Halyna Lewytzkyj, District Heights, Maryland

Thanks for Undriving, Maria and Justin – and for sharing your story!

Ready to get licensed?  Click here!

Last week an unusual order came in via our Online Licensing Station. 

Aww.  We’ve heard a lot of great motivations to get licensed to Undrive, but that was a new one – and our heartstrings were definitely pulled.  We were also inspired – who says you need a car to get around town with your dog?

We had to ask – How’d you come up with this, Jo?

“It was a fluke,” she replied.  “I was thinking of putting Haddie in a front basket, but that just felt dangerous once I tried it.  So I looked back; I had my pack back there and thought, “I wonder if you would fit?” Wa~La – the rest is history ”

“I cut a gardening pad so it would feel comfortable for her, and she just loved it. Never a problem. I got the idea for the Doggles from a vet who said it’s a must for dogs traveling in cars or bikes. So she had sunglasses before I did! We had many wonderful trips, mostly to the store or Alki, but also on Lopez Island where we have a cabin.”

“‘Doggles Riding Shotgun’ is my bike team for Bike to Work month in May. This is my 5th year and the first one without Haddie – but I carry her in my heart, and the Doggles are on my handlebars to make me smile and remember.” - Jo Repanich, Seattle Children’s Research Institute

Thanks, Jo, for sharing your story – and to you and Haddie, for Undriving.

 SUPPORT UNDRIVING!  Donate to Undriving TODAY and your gifts will be matched, up to $1,500, thanks to generous challenge contributions from the Undriving team.  Help us take the highly popular and effective Undriver Licensing program to more communities.  Thank you!

I was bicycling along on Seattle’s Burke-Gilman Trail when this caught my eye.  Were those…. shoulder pads?  Stapled to the stop sign?  Going back for a closer look, I saw that this one was stitched with the word, “Change-o” … And, you guessed it, the one on the other side said “Presto.”

Masterful!  What trail user can’t use a little magic en route?  Woulda missed this if driving! - Julia Field

PSST!  Got a “woulda-missed-this-if-driving” story to share?  Email us and tell us about it!  Attaching a photo would be most swell.  Thanks!

Undriver Paul Byron Crane reports in from London:

“On my yearly sojourns To England I stop off in London, where I spent years living, to visit friends, with places to go and things to do. My passionate interest is sustainable urban design and the tapestry of urban amenities that support sustainable urban living. The transformation of “old school” London into the green living city that London hopes to become is a delight to explore and take part in yearly.

Now that the congestion fee has created much less car traffic downtown, bikes abound – and London recently launched its own bike-share program.  I tried out this Barclays bike system and found it very workable and easy.

There’s no charge for the first 30 minutes, so if you can make it to another bike station in the direction your going, and there is a bike available, you can literally travel across London to multi-destinations for free. The bicycle stock is nearly new, clean and very well maintained.
Unlike the badly deteriorated rental bikes in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo Sweden that I have used, these bikes move you with ease and safely. We will see over time if this public/private partnership continues successfully. Seeing how heavy private bike use in London is turning the British Capital into another Copenhagen, it will continue to expand and be successful. Could we see a BECU/City-of-Seattle system in our future?”

Paul Byron Crane, Landscape Architect, Seattle

When Paul Byron Crane travels, he puts his Undriver License on his suitcase as his luggage tag.  Recently an airline staffer was concerned that Paul had mistakenly left his driver license on his bag. “Oh no,” Paul replied, “That’s my UNdriver License!” An interesting conversation ensued! 

photograph by Anne Knight

I was walking around Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood one day and happened to notice that several hatch covers had very intricate designs.  Apparently, the City of Seattle has actually commissioned several artists over the years to design “hatch cover art” and these can be found in neighborhoods all over the city.  Some even have street maps imprinted on them that show you where you are standing.  If you [like me] are always in a hurry and have never noticed these covers, it is definitely worth slowing down and taking a  look up close.   Woulda missed this if driving! – Mel

http://shop.nordstrom.com/st/1/directions#

If you give your starting point as SeaTac Airport and click on the little transit icon – it will tell you to take the Light Rail!

And if you put in any other starting point, you’ll get a choice of different transit routes.

So if Nordstrom can do this – there’s no excuse for anybody ever giving just “driving directions.”

Last night a skinny, pale guy wearing a T-shirt, light sweat pants, and Converse-like shoes got on the Greyhound bus at Olympia. He was carrying a paper bag just larger than lunch-sack size. Turned out that he’d just gotten out of the prison in Shelton after 18 months.

He kept saying, “I didn’t even know I was getting out! They just said, ‘Hey you can roll up because you’re out of here.’ I’m going to see my mom!” He was so happy he told anyone who would listen, and his happiness was infectious. Everyone was smiling.

Our driver was the Friday Portland-Seattle regular, and he’s always happy. Before we left Tacoma he told us, “Well, the PA system on this bus doesn’t work, and the reading lights on this bus don’t work, but I’ve got good news: there are wheels on this bus!”

- Steve Verhey

We are having a new Store Information/Events redesign that is launching on 11/14.  The map/directions will be hosted by Bing, and it will include walking and transit directions in addition to driving directions.  As for transit, it will include bus information, but we are not sure if it will include Light Rail.  We will know more when the redesign launches.

The last time I looked at Bing maps, the “transit” directions function didn’t even give bus information – only commuter rail, like they have on the East Coast.  But today Bing readily tells me that I can take Light Rail from the airport to downtown.  So I’m optimistic!  Everyone be sure to check out the Nordstrom website on November 14!  and then follow the directions for an Undriving trip downtown!

My internet was down for the last few days of the Undrive-a-Thon.  So I’ve given myself another couple weeks to meet my fundraising goal.  Help me out, OK?