Nondrivers Alliance is a grassroots organizing project that taps into the power, expertise and passion of nondrivers to move our communities beyond car dependency. We are led by — and organize with — disabled people who can’t drive or afford to drive and who are more likely to be from immigrant, low-income and Black and Brown communities. NDA grew out of transportation storytelling and organizing work at the Rooted in Rights and Disability Mobility Initiative projects at Disability Rights Washington, where we created a groundbreaking storymap to make visible the stories of nondrivers, shifting the narrative that our mobility needs are equally valid.
Our work is grounded in disability justice. We believe disabled nondrivers have the most expertise on how to design transportation systems that meet our needs, and that disabled nondrivers must be in the room and at the tables where key decisions are made. We believe in developing capacity among disabled community members, especially BIPOC, immigrant, trans and younger disabled people. We prioritize this expertise in who we choose to uplift and collaborate with. One of our core campaigns has been pushing transit agencies to add transit-reliant community members to their governing boards as voting members. It’s been an uphill battle and has deepened our understanding of the ableism we’re up against, but also why it’s so important to fight to ensure disabled people get to be the ones making decisions about the issues that impact our lives.
Nondrivers Alliance/Nondriver Action Director, Anna Zivarts
Anna Zivarts is a visually impaired parent and author of When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency (Island/Princeton University Press, 2024). In 2021, Zivarts launched the now global education awareness campaign Week Without Driving to build support for transit investments and support for accessible, connected communities. Zivarts sits on the boards of the League of American Bicyclists and the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium, and serves as a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on the Implications of Transportation Choices and Access on Public Health.
Week Without Driving Coalition Lead, Ruth Rosas
Ruth (they/she) is the Director of Coalition Building at Nondrivers Alliance and has led the national organizing of Week Without Driving for the past 3 years. Ruth tells stories in English and Spanish about how people move. For over 15 years, they have worked at the intersection of mobility justice, environmental justice, public health and youth development. With the goal of creating sustainable spaces of connection, care and liberation, Ruth works to reduce car dependency and reimagine solutions that expand choice and opportunity that reflect the needs of people.
Sidewalks Advocacy and Nondriver Action Coalition Lead, Cecelia Black
Cecelia is a wheelchair user dedicated to bringing disability perspectives into policy debates. Cecelia was first introduced to disability-led community organizing through Access Living’s Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing as a graduate student in Chicago. In Seattle, she has been involved in housing organizing through groups Seattle Democratic Socialists of America’s Housing Justice Workgroup and Be:Seattle. As a community organizer at Disability Rights Washington, she helped lead a coalition that won major sidewalk and safety investments in Seattle’s 2025 transportation levy and was involved in state legislative wins like SB 5680, the right to repair wheelchair bill. Cecelia serves as an ADA & Disability Equity Specialist at King County and is a member of Seattle’s Planning Commission.
Nondriver Action Organizer, Amara Schemerhorn
Amara is a dedicated public transportation advocate with a passion for frequent fixed route transit and complete sidewalk networks. Her motivation stems from her experience with navigating transit as a low vision nondriver. She has previously served as a member of the King County Metro South Link Connections Mobility Board, which focused on adapting bus routes to improve public transportation accessibility in South King County.