‘Multi-modal Mary’ Makes Strides 

Mary Wilson is an 84-year-old pedestrian advocate from New Westminster, BC. Her nickname is “multi-modal Mary,” but she is best known for improving walkability in local neighbourhoods.

One of Mary’s first successes involved petitioning the city to install mosaic tiles along 12th Street and 7th Ave. The beautification project was the first of its kind in the city back in 2011 and has been replicated since.

“It took me years of campaigning, I persisted… and I finally found the person who said yes!” she says.

Mary decided she wanted to continue making an impact, so she got onto the city’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee and started to make waves.

“There needs to be a voice at this table speaking up for pedestrians. That was me. I appointed myself, and I got there,” she says. 

 “There was no organization for walkers, no voice for walkers, and I parachuted in there and said, ‘I am going to be at the table, I am going to speak for walkers,’ and that was a major success, that was something that had not happened before.”

Mary went on to bring Jane’s Walk to News West, a free neighbourhood walk, named after activist Jane Jacobs, who promoted the importance of building cities that are pedestrian friendly.

“That raises the profile of walking in the community. It keeps people recognizing that walkers are a component of the transportation system,” Mary says.

Mary even co-founded the New Westminster and Burnaby Walkers Caucus in 2016, a local citizen’s group dedicated to improving walkability in the community.

Thank you, Mary, for sharing your inspiring story, and encouraging others to tie up their laces and explore local neighbourhoods by foot. You are strengthening vital connections!

Link to Mary’s poster: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:d8c34917-18ba-49c6-a981-03c0d6a6e629