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Cassie Smith (she/her)

@cassiesmith.bsky.social

4.3K followers 1.3K following 1.2K posts

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.

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · Nov 15

What a week BlueSky! Welcome new followers! 👋🏻 I mostly post about kids, bikes, & kid-carrying bikes along with climate action and local happenings in Ottawa.

This all ramped up 3.5 years ago, when (in the span of ONE month) I:
- had a (2nd) baby
- got a cargo bike
- was accepted into grad school

A spiffy new Urban Arrow bucket style e- cargo bike with a family standing beside it. Cassie has a baby bundle under her sweater, her male partner wears a helmet, and their small child stands in front.

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Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 11h

since denver launched its e-bike rebate program - the have sold 10,000 e-bikes and reduced an estimated 1,000,000 car trips - replacing millions of VMTs and reducing air pollution

there are no climate silver bullets... but damn - e-bikes and e-cargo bikes are close

denvergov.org/Government/A...

Denver Celebrates 10,000 E-Bike Rebates

Since its inception in April 2022, Denver has distributed over 10,000 electric bikes (e-bikes) to community members through its pioneering e-bike rebate program. As the first U.S. city to implement su...

denvergov.org

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 11h

Even (or especially!) just in your own little sphere. Share your meal plan with the neighbours on your street or your group chat.

This might be the *nudge* (😂) I need to finally start doing this. I share what I'm making for dinner on instagram occasionally and people always love it.

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Andrea Learned | Climate Influence Catalyst Ⓥ 🚲 @andrealearned.bsky.social · 12h

"We are participants in the creation of a norm" is something Mr. Sunstein says here. My #ClimateInfluence amplifying work is to help the folks who have some sort of influence, who care about going #plantbased or going #lesscar, for example, to get louder/more visible. Together we CAN shift norms.

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 1d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 12h

Wow! Montreal’s public bike share system (BIXI) was featured in the TIME Best Inventions Hall of Fame for 2008, not far from the iPhone and Google Street View.

While not the very first bike sharing system, it was one of the earliest and it was the model for many other systems, from NYC to London.

TIME Best Inventions Hall of Fame

See the most iconic inventions of the past 25 years

time.com

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 19h

Bike advocacy can look like:
- meeting politicians and celebrating cycling on Parliament Hill
- going to a rally for safe streets
- biking your kids to school
- biking to work

And sometimes you can do all of them in only 12 hours (🥱)

#OttBike #BikeDayOnTheHill #SafeStreets #BikeBus

The view over handlebars of an orange bike in a green painted left turn bike box

A group of people wearing helmets listen to someone in a black jacket and pink hat speaking on a street corner.

A group of people including kids wearing backpacks waiting to turn left

Cassie, a white woman with bangs, smiles in a selfie with the Peace Tower behind her

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 1d

Thanks to London’s bold action, almost 10 million people are now breathing cleaner air.

That means fewer children will grow up with stunted lungs and fewer people will have to suffer from asthma, dementia and heart disease.

London hits clean air milestone 184 years early - ULEZ makes 'big difference'

A professor has branded the success a 'truly remarkable turnaround for the city's air quality'

www.mylondon.news

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Discontented Bike Person @b1kes.bsky.social · 2d

-use a bicycle when possible
-eat meat one less day a week
-apply a 1.5% wealth tax on net worth over $10,000,000
-grow a pollinator garden

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Jim Mike @whatfuntimes.bsky.social · 2d

-buy durable clothes made from ethical and sustainable fibres instead of fast fashion brands
-buy fewer items of clothing
-restructure society to be less obsessed with consumption
-learn basic sewing skills to repair your clothes when they’re damaged

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Michael Druker 🇨🇦 @mdruker.app · 2d

Tips for being more eco-friendly:
-turn down your thermostat when you can
-use low-flow fixtures
-legalize medium density single-stair apartments near transit, with low parking requirements
-sort your recyclables

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Lloyd Alter @lloydalter.bsky.social · 2d

I saw my first Mercedes Econic garbage truck in Newcastle the other day and was so excited! This is the kind of vehicle we should be demanding in Canada to stop the killing of pedestrians and cyclists. Canada has hewed to the USA safety standards, but now is the time to go our own way.

Canada should make side guards on trucks mandatory; the usual excuse no longer works

Now that we are plotting an independent course from the USA, it’s time to develop our own safety strategies and standards.

lloydalter.substack.com

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 1d

"If you want to normalize walk-friendly, bike-friendly infrastructure, then you need to start by visualizing wildly different scenarios."

Andy Boenau @urbanismspeakeasy.com · 1d

Normalizing good urbanism requires culture change, and culture change requires an advocacy long game that makes space for ideas that seem impossible today.

www.fastcompany.com/91415749/how...

How unthinkable ideas can reshape our cities for the better

Civilizations advance when we ask the big "What If" questions that sometimes fall outside of the mainstream.

www.fastcompany.com

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 2d

Great piece Jordan.

The more I've thought about this project (and others), clarified by what you've outlined here, is that real effort to make low-stress residential streets actually low stress would go a long way. Modal filters, chicanes and changing culture and social norms.

Reposted by Cassie Smith (she/her)

Jordan Moffatt @jordanmoffatt.bsky.social · 2d

My newest newsletter post over at Ottawa 3 Speed: A review of the proposed bike lanes on Gladstone Avenue and Gilmour Street.

Westbound contra-flow lane on Gilmour! Protected intersection at Rochester! Weird, convoluted crossing of Bronson! #ottbike

jordobicycles.substack.com/p/gladstone-...

Gladstone-Gilmour bikeway will boost cycling in Centretown...

...But bike lanes all the way down Gladstone are still needed

jordobicycles.substack.com

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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 3d

Yale researchers didn't stop there. They also identified what people most need to know to catalyze action and support climate policy; and it's not about global temps, ice sheets, or ocean currents.

What people most need to know about climate change is that (1) others care, and (2) there is hope.

Understanding six “key truths” about climate change predicts policy support, discussion, and political advocacy

Social norms and collective efficacy are strong predictors

climatecommunication.yale.edu

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 2d

I'm looking forward to cycling over to Parliament Hill tomorrow to connect with many amazing people working hard to build a bike-friendly Canada. Bring your bike to the hill for a big group photo at 5pm!

#OttBike #VeloGat

Vélo Canada Bikes @velocanadabikes.bsky.social · 29d

🇨🇦 Join parliamentarians, local and national leaders, and fellow cyclists in for a non-partisan celebration of everyday cycling in Canada. Let us know if you can be there in Ottawa on Wednesday, October 8th at 5 p.m. for Bike Day on the Hill 2025!

Register here: simpli.events/e/bikedayont...

Bike Day on the Hill 2025 | Simpli Events

Bike Day on the Hill is back! Join parliamentarians, local and national leaders, and fellow cyclists in a non-partisan celebration of everyday cycling in Canada. This year we will be highlighting cycl...

simpli.events

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks for participating & sharing! Me time on the bike is one of my favourite benefits too 😎.

A reason #WeekWithoutDriving is more binary is that for many (~1/3 of the population) driving is not an option. The campaign is to build empathy, understanding & action about that experience.

Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 3d

😢😢😢

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 3d

There was a story from Guelph a few weeks ago about a mom being killed by a driver and her last act was pushing her child in their stroller out of the way hopefully saving their life. Absolutely heartbreaking and a sign of how parents are always aware of road danger.

globalnews.ca/news/1144001...

Family pushing stroller hit by pickup truck in Guelph, Ont., mother dead | Globalnews.ca

Guelph police say they are investigating after a woman died when she and her family were struck by a pickup truck Friday afternoon.

globalnews.ca

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 3d

I was (not actually) nearly crushed because I was walking slightly behind him because he was sluggishly crossing after a long day. The driver was mad that an 8 year old was tired and not rushing out of his way. I am always using my body to protect my kids.

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 3d

Love a walk home with my kid where an aggressive driver causes him to ask "what should I do if you get crushed by a car?"

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Jason Thorne @jasonthorne.bsky.social · 3d

The Venn diagram of urban density and average household GHG emissions is pretty much a circle. Interesting study on “Mapping household GHG emissions in the Greater Golden Horseshoe” from the University of Toronto School of Cities schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/mapping-hous...

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Share The Cities @sharethecities.bsky.social · 4d

Sound Transit with the amazing marketing.

Break a mindless habit. Zombie with gas pump.

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 5d

Same, man, same. Her vision of abundance is the kind of world I want to live in.

Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · Apr 4

Can 'the discourse' be about Robin Wall Kimmerer's insights about abundance instead?

The cover of "The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World" by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass. The cover is a light beige with an illustration of a cedar waxwing eating a serviceberry from a tree with another bird in the background going for another.

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Cassie Smith (she/her) @cassiesmith.bsky.social · 5d

Access to nature for nondrivers is often a challenge. We are very lucky in Ottawa-Gatineau to have natural spaces available by both public transit and free public shuttles. Always room for improvement but this is something worth recognizing 🍂🍁🌳🌲

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