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.
Transit operator shortages continue to hit agencies across the region and nation. Kitsap Transit is yet another provider that will be partially reducing service because of pandemic-induced staffing challenges. Service reductions will hit four commuter routes, so the agency is advising that riders use alternative services, where available. However,...
Amtrak services will return to the Point Defiance Bypass on Thursday, November 18th, the company announced late this afternoon. The bypass is expected to shave up to ten minutes off travel times (updated schedules currently show a scattershot of time savings) between Tacoma and Olympia versus the waterside route...
A new scoping information report has been released for Sound Transit's Everett Link extension project. It's a first crack at detailing potential alignments between Lynnwood and Everett. Feedback gained from the process will be used to refine alternatives to be evaluated as part of the alternatives development process and...
Week Without Driving: The Everett Herald ($), Real Change News, and The Stranger talk about Disability Rights Washington's Week Without Driving campaign.
East Side Access: For the first time, New York's Long Island Rail Road arrived into Grand Central Terminal via the East Side Access.
Canada caps: Canada will put a...
https://youtu.be/oOttvpjJvAo
Climate Town charts the history of how the car industry rapidly reset what the American Dream would be. The oppressive takeover has wrought a highly car-oriented society that is unhealthy, inequitable, and unsustainable. But how America has gotten here took many calculated steps, which Climate Town dives into with...
Staffing levels at transit agencies continue to remain a challenge due to pandemic impacts. That could mean parts of Sound Transit's 2022 Service Plan may go unrealized for a period of time next year and possibly longer. That would be disappointing to riders who would otherwise see big improvements...
Seattle is now offering all public middle school students in Seattle free transit passes through the ORCA Opportunity program. This builds upon a program that already provides free transit to public high school students, lower-income public middle school students, and Seattle Promise Scholars as well as Seattle Housing Authority...
Two surplus lots are up for redevelopment at the future Kent/Des Moines Station. Sound Transit has about four acres of land that it wants to infill with transit-oriented development (TOD), but how that will happen is still up for a debate. The agency is sharing some development concepts and...