I’m grateful that I live in Arcata, because many social, cultural, recreational, educational events happen in Arcata and Eureka. I mostly have ready access to both cities either by bike or by the bus, but still, there are barriers to being fully free-range.

Travelling to nighttime social soirees

I am a sucker for discounts. (It’s well known that I consume way more day-old pastries than I want to.) So, when my friends told me that they go en masse to the $5 Tuesday Nite at the Broadway Cinema, I was dying to go with them! But they all live in Eureka. And the northbound bus would leave before the movie credits. So I always missed the movie party.

Good news! Ride Humboldt’s RTS (Redwood Transit System) bus now has a later run, which departs Eureka at 9:20 p.m., so there are a few movie showings that I can flex the discount on. Even better news! The completely! open! Humboldt Bay Trail South now gives me a (bike)way to get to Eureka fun, pretty much 24-7. I have already biked on the trail twice to go to nighttime movies. It’s so fun riding there and back that I have lowered my standards about what movies I am willing to see there.

Old news: I don’t have drive-free options to get to Blue Lake for Dell’Arte nighttime shows or Blue Lake Casino concerts. I have to depend on having a friend who I can carpool with. The same is true for Trinidad Art Night, concerts at The Old Steeple in Ferndale, fancy dinner at Larrupin Café or Moonstone Grill… You get the picture.

Some important community places you cannot get to, in a practical way, without driving

For example, Woodley Island or Indian Island. I’m not saying that Harbor District agendas are all-the-rage all the time and not to be missed, but I can’t attend their meetings in person, as they are held at the Woodley Island Marina. I also typically miss meetings at the Humboldt Area Foundation on Indianola in Bayside. The location is bucolic and the grounds are beautiful, but without driving there is no decent way to get there. Not to shame HAF, though. Quite the contrary; I bring it up so that I can add a rejoinder. HAF staff have helped facilitate carpools for me when I have told them that I wanted to attend a meeting. Staff have even driven to Arcata to pick me up at my house(!).

Another example, Redwood Acres in Eureka. I hear Frankie’s NY Bagels are really good. If I were to do lunch there on a work day, according to an online map app, I could hypothetically drive there in 8 minutes, or bike there in 16 minutes, or bus there in (fastest time) 39 minutes. Although I could ride in bike lanes on much — not all — of Myrtle Avenue and Harris Street, it’s a ride I dismiss out of hand. I have biked to Redwood Acres once. It was on a weekend, and it wasn’t bad. Honestly, it was kind of empowering. But I have to want to go there for a pretty unique, one-chance event to make me stop and really consider getting myself there by bus or bike. Although, if the occasion is so unique, it will be popular with other people, too. And by “people” I mean drivers with cars. At those times, carpooling options open up.

For example, Ferndale and Humboldt County Fairgrounds. In years past and younger, I went to the Fairgrounds for the Tour of the Unknown Coast bike ride (Please. Fifty miles or metric century max). This was thanks to going with friends who could hitch up our bikes and drive me there. Friends with cars are also the singular way I can see a play at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre. Lucky for me, I do have friends who are happy enough to pick me up from the bus stop in Fernbridge and bring me to Ferndale for a good ol’ Victorian time (Sundays excluded: no bus service).

But some important community places are easy to get to by public transit

For example, College of the Redwoods. Yes, we’re always wishing and striving for more frequency, but for dropping me smack dab in the heart of campus, the bus can’t be beat. Plus: no parking fee. Same goes for the Cal Poly Humboldt campus, to which the bus runs approximately every 30 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., plus four additional later runs.

For example, Eureka and Arcata downtowns. Bus stops are one or a few blocks — or mere doorways — away from umpteen fun and functional destinations. To commute to work, I ride my bike one happy mile to the Transit Center in downtown Arcata. I store my bike there in my bike locker rental. I ride the bus to Old Town Eureka, where the traditional blocks were built short and walkable. I walk two blocks to the office. My non-driving commute is easy. One difference between my commute and driving to work in an SOV (single occupancy vehicle) is that I cannot be a few minutes late to work. I either arrive at my regularly scheduled time, or I arrive on the next bus in 30 minutes, or the one after that, another 30 minutes later.

Working without driving

When I have work meetings out of town, I often can carpool with coworkers. If I need to transport tables, chairs, easels, or other bulky items, I depend on coworkers or other colleagues. If that fails, I can rent a car in Eureka, which takes time and extra coordination (and, closed on Sundays). When I have meetings in Sacramento, I take the Amtrak Thruway bus to Martinez, then get on the train. I love riding the train. The trip takes a whole work day (and a long one at that), but I can get a lot of work done. Unless I am just looking out the window, enjoying the scenery.

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So that’s what it’s like for me during the Week(s) Without Driving. The good, the bad, the mundane. If you’re keen to try not driving as an automatic default, I imagine you will develop new neural pathways as you immerse yourself in a new, or dormant, experience. Maybe you’ll even feel 15 again, before the learner’s permit kicked in.

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Oona Smith is the senior regional planner for the Humboldt County Association of Governments.

The national Week Without Driving runs from September 29 through October 5, 2025. It is an opportunity for participating public officials and other community members to get first-hand insights into the way many seniors, kids, people with disabilities, low-income people, and other non-drivers navigate our communities. Each day during the week, the Lost Coast Outpost is publishing reflections from local participants. For more information, visit this link.