Cassie Smith (she/her)

@cassiesmith.bsky.social

4741 Followers 1524 Following

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.

A kid wearing a Messi jersey bikes on a gravel path towards a bridge with a wooden entry gate.
A bioswale blocked by a swinging kid with a 🤨 over their face
Kids biking on a gravel trail in desert mountains
A sign on a door says Washrooms OPEN 7:30am - 9:00pm
Screenshot of a bright green app. Text says; let's bike OTTAWA by envirocentre I've Biked: 156.2km 21 Days Biked! 2 Car Trips Saved! -19.99kg GHG Averted! $148.39 Money Saved! During Let's Bike Month only rides made in the month are shown
A card with barely decipherable artistic(?) 5 yo writing that starts THANK and then has a lot of random letters and then WHAT5YTOBA WHAYlT and a picture of rocket ships (maybe?!?)
Screenshot of chunky blue jean platform sandals
An old warehouse space with string lights and lots of people at tables and standing around.
Cassie with an adult passenger riding in the cargo bike backseat and kids and adults biking behind.
Cassie rides behind her partner on a longtail cargo bike
Screenshot from Pedal Poll: Trillium Pathway, Ottawa 0 Ontario, Canada Carling Ave Madan Map data ©2026 Google I observed 436 bikes on June 7, 2026 between 12:01 PM and 2:00 PM at Trillium Pathway, Ottawa. Bikes E-bikes Cargo 396 37 3 E-scooters 3 Pedestrians 117 E-moto Total counted: 558 Pedal Poll / Sondo Vélo 2026 velocanadabikes.org/pedalpoll VELO CANADA BIKES mitacs CHATR CapaCITY/É Brock Faculty of Applied Health Sciences eco counter 2
A multiuse path crosses a street. People on bikes on both sides. They see a stop sign and dismount. Drivers see a yield to pedestrians.
A screenshot from letsbike.ca it says: ONGOING June 2026 1,980 Logged a ride! 195 Teams! 102.9K Kms logged! 13,168 kg GHG averted! 3,291 Car trips saved! About Us Our Sponsors 17 YEARS OF CELEBRATING BIKES PEDAL TO WIN! INSPIRATION | EVENTS | INFORMATION
Two people enjoying cheering with pom poms in front of an EnviroCentre tent at Bayview O-Train station.
A whiteboard of notes: The first line in half blue and half green says coriander D. Then there are 18 more lines of green that say coriander D in (pretty neat) 5 yo writing.
An urban Arrow with rain cover and two kids with emoji over their faces.
An abacus, a folding chair and a stroller in a patch of grass. A sign on the stroller says #PedalPoll
A group of adults and kids biking to school
A conference room with people at tables and a speaker at podium. The presentation slide says Congestion Pricing Inevitable with several points.
A conference room with people at tables and a man speaking at podium. The slide behind the speakers has icons and text that says Pillar 5 Shift How People Travel
The cover of a book called Women Changing Cities: Global stories of urban transformation held up with the Ottawa VIA station in the background
A man stands under a screen with a picture of a rendering of a wading pool
Google maps on cycling layer with the library on the middle and only a couple of dotted lines (terrible!) or playground bike lanes.
A front box cargo bike with an infant seat and baby and a cool toddler wearing sunglasses and a helmet
Jeff's chart of Bike Share Toronto Ridership by Month with added text 'this is the last time there was bike share in Ottawa' with an arrow pointing to 2018 just before Toronto numbers explode
A tiny puffball of an orange kitten sits on a wood step. He is barely taller than the rise of the step.
A shot of the CBC Radio studio with Rebecca Zandbergen at the desk and Cassie in a bright yellow sweater at a guest mic
Cassie takes a selfie on her bike wearing a hat and helmet. A hockey stick pokes out behind her. And on the bike path behind her is a kid wearing a helmet and coat on another bike.
An enormous pile of snow, mostly dirt with a big branch in it like a tree. The sun is shining in a blue sky. A building under construction is in the back
A Lego playground, skatepark, wheelbarrow and cargo bike
A Lego scene with two red bikes at a station, a food cart, and a boutique hotel.
Pink flyers on a table with a plant. The flyer says: In connection with International Women's Day IMPACT HUB Ottawa LEAN IN ottawa proudly present HUB & SPORE Women Leading Change in Ottawa Come mix and mingle, meet changemakers, and hear compelling stories of change from women leaders! Thursday, March 26 5:30 to 8:30 pm Impact Hub Ottawa 123 Slater Street, 6th Floor Tickets $25 Includes one drink and light catering (Extra drinks available for purchase)
Contemporary cities are built to facilitate efficient travel by car, not to meet the everyday needs of people. As Dolores Hayden (1980), a professor of architecture and planning, criticized before I was born, "[h]ow does a conventional home serve the employed woman and her family? Badly. [...] These spaces require someone to undertake private cooking, cleaning, child care, and usually private transportation if adults and children are to exist within it" (p. S175). Feminist scholars have identified the ways that those with power created a built environment that (often intentionally) constrains women and families (Hayden, 1980; Kern, 2020; Wekerle, 1985). Their work has challenged the status quo and presented new perspectives and ideas, but the issues remain pervasive as urban areas continue to sprawl, and the typical Canadian suburban environ-ment makes non-car travel a difficult or even hostile activity. Feminists challenge research, data collection, and policymaking that prioritize commuting over all other forms of transportation, instead valuing trips that are part of mundane everyday experiences and care-taking (Dyck, 2005; Gilroy & Booth, 1999; Mayers & Glover, 2023; Ravensbergen et al., 2022). 2
Kids biking on a pathway with skyline and clouds above
Cassie wearing bright pink sits on the seat of a bakfiets with a kid in the seat and an infant seat with bug net over top. They are on the grass next to a roadway being used by people on bikes.
Screen shot of text that reads At signalized intersections, long wait times for pedestrians can disincentivize walking and increase the risk of unsafe crossing behaviour. Pedestrian crossings should be provided on all signalized intersection legs unless no feasible solution can be identified. Short cycle lengths can also be used to reduce pedestrian delay, while recognizing that many factors influence signal timing. The City will also explore other ways to reduce wait times and prioritize pedestrians at signalized intersections, such as half-cycles at minor intersections; reduced cycle lengths during off-peak periods; leading pedestrian intervals; joined-ped feature whereby walk display appears when a vehicle has triggered detection and push-button was not activated; and continued application of automatic pedestrian walk cycles. As part of making it safer and easier to cross the road, the City will also continue to pursue intersection designs that reduce pedestrian exposure to vehicular traffic. This includes seeking additional opportunities to implement "no right turn on red" restrictions as per the Strategic Road Safety Action Plan. 53 ACTION 6-4A Continue to look for opportunities to provide safe pedestrian crossings, including crossing opportunities to link new and existing pedestrian facilities.
Illustrations of three vehicles with 4.5 year old children in front The higher the bonnet, the bigger the blind spot: More high-fronted SUVs would mean more children drivers don't see RAM TRX 9 year old child (1.36m) and 4.5 year old child (1.1m) Land Rover Defender 4.5 year old child (1.1m) VW Golf 4.5 year old child (1.1m) Analysis based on children of average European height standing to the centre of vehicle fronts. Drivers are of average European adult height. Vehicle assessment and modelling by Summerskill / Loughborough University SDCA (2025) CleanCities T&E
A woman with a pink and blue jacket, helmet, goggles, pink lipstick, and floral skirt takes a selfie with a bike locked in the snow behind her
A red Canadiana picnic blanket spread on a porch next to a kid putting away a pink shovel. There are two plates with strawberries, Cheetos, and pita on the blanket.
An e-cargo bike on Parliament Hill with a sign inside that says 'This is my minivan'
A Purolator low speed vehicle parked on a snowy street with a crossover SUV behind it for scale.
Pink background with two smushed together hearts with an arrow through them. Pathways to... Community Safety An evening of short films about community safety built through love, care and imagination Feb 13, 7pm Ottawa Art Gallery Free Admission
A shot from low down in a crowd of people wearing Canada gear
On a black background large red text says WARNING White text says Pushing this device through a city will radicalize you. The total imbalance that we have normalized on our streets prioritizing the automobile will become crystal clear. You will never be the same again after this experience. The words ROVÉLO CREATIVE Are on a white stroller graphic
A cat carrier with orange cat inside and heavy purple blanket on top being pulled on a blue sled.
Two side by side windows - in the left is an orange stuffed cat and a plant, in the right a real orange cat. Both are looking out the window (at an unseen squirrel).
Screenshot of the Better Ottawa tracker showing threw cancelled #11 trips in a row between 6 and 7pm
An urban Arrow e-cargo bike with a trailer behind pulling two kids bikes
A kid's fingers on the side of a paper with a drawing of a unicorn and the letter J
Cassie, a white woman with dirty blonde hair, wearing a pink toque and beige scarf takes a smiling selfie on an outdoor skate.
An urban Arrow e-cargo bike with cover in front of Sandy Hill Community Centre. There's snow behind it and warm bar mitts on the handlebars.
Chart of mode share by age (2022 origin-destination survey) Shows 5-10 year olds are passengers 46% of trips (plus 29% on school bus). 11-18 year olds 34% passenger, 17% school bus
A snapshot from StoryGraph showing Read 2 books, 541 pages / Average time to finish 14 days and a perfectly divided six way pie chart of moods: reflective, informative, funny, inspiring, hopeful and emotional.
A book cover: Kitten Construction Company: Meet the House Kittens by John Patrick Green. An orange kitten holds the blueprint of a house in front of a bulldozer driven by a black and white kitten with other kittens in the scoop.
On a green square with the title "Best Fiction I read in 2025" are five book covers: - The Wild Robot by Peter Brown cover features an illustration of a robot on a pile of rocks - Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy cover is brown and orange moody waves - The Wedding People by Alison Espach cover has more waves with an arm giving a peace sign and another arm holding a bottle of bubbly - This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone cover features a red cardinal and a reflected blue jay both kind of pixelated. - We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman cover features a sofa can with a straw and daisy coming out of the opening
A group of kids in pink and purple with smiling emojis over their faces on the road with parents to the side and behind.
On a green background the text "Best recipes I tried in 2025". There are five pictures of food below - a bowl with something orange and creamy, a wrap sandwich with filling, another orange bowl, a pasta salad, and a bowl with beans and zucchini.
A little kid in purple snowsuit, pink goggles, buffalo plaid goggles and cross country skis slides through snow with a playground behind them.
Purple snowpants with patch stickers on the seams. A Rudolph slipper also snuck into the picture
A Monopoly board game with lots of money on both sides and almost all of the property cards on the other side of the table with the shoulders and torsos of two squirming children.