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Week Without Driving - October 2-8, 2023ORCHARD. PROCLAMATION WHEREAS, access to mobility is a fundamental part of health and community connection, allowing the City of Port Orchard to reach education and employment opportunities, medical services, shopping, recreation, and visit friends and family, and is one of the state's six transportation system policy goals, including investing public dollars to improve the movement of people throughout the City of Port Orchard; and WHEREAS, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the cost of owning a car is approximately 72 cents a mile, with average household spending on transportation reaching $10,961 a year in 2021, many people cannot afford the cost of a car, and nearly a third of the people residing in the US do not have a driver's license, either because of their age or a condition that does not allow them to drive; and WHEREAS, transportation represents the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and in order to meet our state's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, we must reduce emissions in our transportation sector; and WHEREAS, in addition to greenhouse gas emissions, cars also create tire dust that can enter watersheds; have necessitated freeway expansions that have been detrimental to neighborhoods historically home to communities of color; and require impervious surfaces for parking, with an estimated 3.4 parking spaces for every car in the United States, all of which have contributed to transportation being an important environmental justice concern; and WHEREAS, going a week without driving is great way to understand how we can improve our current transportation system to better meet the needs of Washingtonians and improve and enhance transportation options such as transit, light rail, biking, and walking pathways as key strategies in our decarbonization efforts; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, Robert Putaansuu, Mayor of the City of Port Orchard, do hereby proclaim the week of October 2-8 2023, as WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING IN CITY OF PORT ORCHARD and I encourage �in our state to join me in this special observance. PORT' ❑ .�R�'�y • pftpo�p �' '■.� Signed the 26th day of September 2023 Q �L " Robert Putaansuu, Mayor ,r'��. F W;i SHIN , t���