Header image: Josh Jones

We all have to go places - the question is, how do we make the journey? When I was younger, I loved walking with my siblings to the nearby 7-11 for Slurpees or riding my bike to friends’ homes in the neighborhood. When I was in college, I used the bus to get to classes, to the grocery store, and to accomplish any errands that were possible with the available routes. I would also use my car (now, like many Everett residents, my primary means of transportation) to access places outside of those routes.  

While cars are still the most common form of transportation in our city, we are lucky to live in a place where other transportation options are available and with these options expanding over time. We not only have our city-wide Everett Transit, but we also are able to utilize Snohomish County’s Community Transit. You may remember that this past June, Everett Transit went through some changes where they expanded morning and evening services and rearranged routes to better support high-commuter areas. 

In addition to these changes, Everett's transportation development includes: 

• Community Transit is planning on making some changes in 2024 that will impact how we move around Everett (and the rest of the county), including the addition of the Swift Orange Line (which will connect the Swift Blue and Green lines), the expansion of bus lines to offer direct access to the light rail, and experimenting with zero-emission options to determine the best way forward with environmentally-sustainable transport
  

• Expanding bike lanes (including the two new recently-added buffered bike lanes on Evergreen Way and Madison St.) and using a master plan to connect our city with bike lanes over the next few years
  

• Maintaining the 300 Bird Scooters that were added to Everett’s streets in 2022
  

• Continuing with our city’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) that extends from 2023 - 2028, which determines how our budget will be allotted to different transportation projects in our local, arterial, and freeway areas

Even with all of the changes happening, the city always needs your input. We, as a community, can advocate for better bike lanes, common sense traffic controls, and effective (and sustainable) public transit options by sharing our opinions at City Council (when there is a related agenda item, of course) and by contacting the Planning Commission and/or the Transportation Advisory Committee (CAT). We can also take action ourselves by adopting streets, cleaning up trash, and letting the city know when something needs fixing (which, depending on the issue, may take a while - the sidewalk replacement program has a wait time of up to 8 years!). 

We all travel - by one method or another - and utilizing the expanding options available in our city makes us, and our whole community, a healthier and more inclusive one. 

Angela Di Filippo currently works in State Social Services and recently earned her Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with extensive training in evidence-based leadership coaching. Angela moved from North Carolina to Washington 6 years ago and has proudly called Everett her home for 5 of those years. When not helping others solve problems in creative and strength-driven ways, Angela enjoys her time painting, hiking with her terrier-mix, Indy, and eating waffles.