Cassie Smith (she/her)

@cassiesmith.bsky.social

Feminist geographer and cargo bike mom. Volunteer: Bike Ottawa VP, For Our Kids, Kidical Mass championing safe, sustainable, fun, and equitable spaces especially for kids. Work: Transportation strategy and solutions with EnviroCentre. Views my own.

When I come across Doug Ford’s “Safer Ontario” ad campaign I think of the drug detritus in playgrounds in our neighborhood. I’ve only seen his changes making our community less safe. I didn’t use to see this nearly as often when there was a supervised consumption site open nearby. Thanks Doug.

BildBild

Fighting for their future while also getting dinner on the table every day. Raising kids right now requires a lot. For some it's the mental gymnastics to ignore (or fuel) the climate emergency and for others it's the determination to face it and do everything we can to reduce its impacts.

The Tyee@thetyee.ca · 5d ago

“Someday they will ask me what we did about the climate emergency. We tried so hard, I will say. We knew, we organized, we pushed for change. I hope I will be able to say we finally came to our collective senses.” Maggie Knight writes. 🌎 thetyee.ca/Culture/2026...

The NCC's slogan this summer is "cottage vibes without the drive" and I am here for it! Biked to Bates Island Bistro, River House, and the new East Wharf swim dock in the past 24 hours! 🚲🥂🚲🏊‍♂️🍦🚲🏊‍♂️. Everything but the food and drink is free. Incredible places for people 💞 @ncc-ccn.gc.ca

Ottawa has been a leader in protected intersections. They went from rare pilot to commonplace across the city in the past decade. And not the city, but the NCC has been incredible at improving access to water, placemaking, and adding biodiversity to the city!

A protected intersection in winter with someone biking, people walking, cars and buses by a light rail train station
Michael Druker 🇨🇦@mdruker.app · 2w ago

Everyone loves to talk about what their city governments are doing wrong. What’s something your city is getting right? (And tell us what city it is!)

The Dutch have been studying bio-resilient cities for the past decade, protect existing trees in paving projects (often taking car lanes to give #trees more room to grow), and have added 1000s of new trees when improving bike lanes. The result in Utrecht is a cooler, more beautiful city to bike in.

"It’s a win-win in a lot of ways" - Cassie Smith @envirocentre.bksy.social Read more in Ted Raymond's CTV News article on Ottawa's proposed School Streets pilot. It's an step to creating safer spaces for children to walk, roll +cycle to school while building healthier, more connected communities.

Committee approves ‘school streets’ pilot project at 3 Ottawa schools

The City of Ottawa’s public works and infrastructure committee has approved a pilot project that would close streets in front of three Ottawa schools to vehicle traffic during drop-off and pick-up…

buff.ly

Cycling with disabled children isn't just "can they ride a bike?" It's whether they can make the actual journey needed. Kate Ball shares her family's story: rear-steer tandems, trikes, e-tandems, and years of trial and error. www.cyclesprog.co.uk/inspiration/... @wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk

The right cycle for the journey: cycling with disabled children

From rear-steer tandems to e-bikes, Kate Ball shares practical advice on cycling with disabled children for everyday journeys.

cyclesprog.co.uk

Municipal politicians talk a lot about meeting "TransformTO" goals. I have made a tool that actually tracks commute mode share in Toronto and measures how close we are to hitting these goals! See what your ward's transportation mode share is and hold candidates to account.

I'm back home after 3 weeks travelling, mostly in the Okanagan. We spent a lot of time visiting family so my pictures aren't all about bikes—but a lot of them are 😉. Great safe and inviting stuff happening in the Interior!

Nobody disputes that having access to a car in a car-dominated society is good. It gives one access to jobs, healthcare, food, education, social opportunities and more. All we're asking is for people to go one step deeper and ask why access to such basic rights requires buying and operating a car.

Romeo Kokriatski@vagrantjourno.bsky.social · 3w ago

I grew up in Jackson Heights in Queens and we still had a car, and our lives got measurably better when we did.