Week Without Driving : How Transit Can Serve People in Rural Towns - Streetsblog California

""Mobility is a human right" is a theme of the national Week Without Driving, an annual event that highlights how people struggle to exercise that right when driving is not an option. Those who live in rural areas have an additional barrier: bus service may be infrequent or even non-existent in places. I live in Sonoma County, one of the most rural counties in California, and 13% of the county's residents live in rural areas."

"Sonoma County Transit offers bus service linking rural towns to hub cities along Highway 101 and Highway 12. My challenge on Tuesday September 30 was to take the bus to Sebastopol and beyond. I'm familiar with these small towns as places where I go to pick up my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares of vegetables from Winter Sister Farm, Full Bloom Flowers, and Farmer Mai Flour."

Week Without Driving promotes the idea that mobility is a human right and highlights barriers when driving is not an option. Rural residents often face infrequent or nonexistent bus service that complicates access to essential destinations. In Sonoma County, 13% of residents live in rural areas, where Sonoma County Transit links towns to hub cities along Highways 101 and 12. Line 20 loops around the Russian River area to Santa Rosa, offering bike racks and connections to the SMART train, other buses, and stops including Coddingtown Mall, Santa Rosa Junior College, and the County Administrative Center.

Read at Streetsblog