Stephen Fesler
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.
North American transit agencies are discovering double-decker buses, but there's often a lot of excuses for why they aren't more common. Reece Martin looks into the pros and cons and argues that they should be more widely used.
On Thursday, Sound Transit shared future Link system map and station wayfinding sign concepts with members of the Sounding Board. The system maps and station wayfinding signs are a significant departure from the past with the introduction of station numbering. This strongly suggests that the agency is considering adding...
This week, more zero youth fare programs got approval in Puget Sound. Add King County Metro and Sound Transit to the list where youth riders aged 18 and under will be able to ride all forms of transit on their systems (i.e., bus, ferry, streetcar, light rail, and commuter...
Vancity: Vancouver has adopted a plan that will grow the city about 260,000 people by 2050.
Good or bad: San Francisco vetoes a big housing measure that might have actually stifled housing construction ($).
Skagit electric ferry: An electric ferry for Skagit County is nearing construction.
Housing tax strategies: British Columbia will...
In some circles, there is a belief that you have to have large populations to support high quality rail services. Switzerland shows that might not be the case. The country boasts a highly productive and frequent intercity and local passenger rail network that is actually quite dense. The system...
This Transpo Notes roundup touches on a mix of transit stories, including:
Splitting of West Seattle and Ballard Link studies and identifying priorities;Completion of the first phase of Link Future Ready projects and upcoming work;Stride bus rapid transit program updates;Community Transit and Sound Transit transit development plans; andHow to address...
Kenmore is moving forward with parts of its 2024 Comprehensive Plan update, which will look out to 2044. A suite of proposed policy changes around land use, housing, and capital facilities are expected to be vetted by the city council over the summer and could be adopted this fall....
Safetyville: How has Hoboken ended traffic fatalities and how is going to end traffic injuries?
: A person biking was killed last night near West Seattle with the driver murderer fleeing the scene.
Different planets: What's the connection between transit policymakers and transit riders?
Build the housing: People attribute homelessness to a...