Quick Take
Week Without Driving, an annual effort that encourages people to use transit, bike, or walk instead of use cars, begins on Thursday and runs until the following Thursday, Oct, 8. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, Santa Cruz Metro, the county department of Community Development and Infrastructure and the Community Traffic Safety Coalition are partnering to promote the event.
Multiple transportation organizations are partnering for the second year in a row to promote Week Without Driving, which runs from Thursday, Oct. 1, through Thursday, Oct. 8.
Week Without Driving is a national initiative held during the first week of October that encourages residents to replace at least one car trip with public transit, biking, walking or carpooling – experiencing travel from the perspective of people who can’t or don’t drive, and exploring the options they could use if they couldn’t drive.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), Santa Cruz Metro, the county Community Development and Infrastructure Department and the Community Traffic Safety Coalition of Santa Cruz County are working together once again to raise awareness of the annual event.
Locals will have the opportunity to participate in a number of activities. Go Santa Cruz County will host the Week Without Driving contest, where participants can log eligible commutes for entries into a prize drawing. The RTC and partner organizations will host a Week Without Driving event at the Capitola Mall on Friday, Oct. 2, from 3 to 7 p.m., where other local organizations and businesses will set up informational tables and attendees can get information about a variety of transit options and bicycle and e-bike resources. They will also have the opportunity to connect with safety advocates and enjoy family activities. On Oct. 7, Santa Cruz Metro will offer free rides for Clean Air Day.
The week also gives the RTC a chance to showcase progress on the ongoing transportation demand management program, which provides information and resources to encourage people to travel in ways other than driving year-round. The RTC will highlight those strides and the role of Go Santa Cruz County — a program that rewards people for choosing alternative and sustainable transportation options — at its meeting on Thursday.
According to a staff report, since Go Santa Cruz County launched in 2019, it has amassed 9,760 registered users, 3,183 of whom are actively logging trips. In total, the program estimates it has helped generate 500,000 alternative transportation trips totaling 4.3 million miles, reducing 1,450 tons of carbon emissions and saving $2.3 million in transportation costs.
Looking forward, RTC staff has put together a yearlong plan to guide the transportation demand management program throughout the 2026-27 fiscal year. Short-term goals include improving performance and data tracking in order to make future program decisions and improving the Cruz511 website, which hosts countywide travel information.
Medium-term goals include expanding partnerships with employers to circulate more transportation resources and improving coordination throughout all agencies participating. Long-term efforts include developing a transportation demand management program specifically targeting Watsonville as well as a longer-term plan for advancing the ongoing initiatives.
Week Without Driving begins Thursday, and the RTC meeting begins the same day at 9 a.m. at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors chambers, where staff will present the full report. The meeting is also available here via Zoom.
Latest news
Here’s what’s happening this week on our roadways:
- Utility and shoulder work is shutting down one lane in various sections of Highway 9 from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those sections are between Pike Road and Western Avenue, Cascade Avenue and Irwin Way, Ramona Drive and Stapp Road, and Watermans Gap Junction and Tin Can Ranch Road.
- There will be a full closure of the San Lorenzo Way Bridge in Felton through Friday, Oct. 9, as crews prepare to replace the bridge.
- The southbound Highway 1 off-ramp at Bay Avenue in Capitola is in the second month of a four-month closure that began Aug. 2, as crews reconstruct the ramp as part of the bus-on-shoulder facility.
- Bridge work is currently shutting down alternating lanes of Highway 9 between Pool Drive and Old County Highway and Riverdale Park and Monaco Lane until April 30, 2027.
- Roadway excavation is shutting down the southbound Highway 1 on-ramp at Park Avenue in Capitola until Nov. 19.
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