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Use Apps to Encourage Walking

Definition

Using open-source data, geographic information systems, and mobile technology, software developers can create phone and online applications to tell people when the next train, taxi, or bus is coming, that there’s a fun landmark or park around the corner, or how to use a myriad of transportation systems effectively to get from point A to point B without using a car.

Benefits

  • Allows people to make better-informed decisions about transportation options
  • Manages passengers’ transportation expectations
  • Demystifies non-car transportation options
  • Reduces dependence on the private automobile for transportation needs
  • Better integrates walking into transportation options

Considerations

  • Not everyone has access to mobile technology
  • Source data isn’t always reliable
  • Updating the technology with new information

Appropriate Contexts

  • Countries, states, counties, cities, towns

Professional Consensus

  • In the absence of endorsements from national associations or governmental departments, cities are turning to best practices employed by other municipalities

Examples

  • HopStop (79 cities and counting)
  • NextBus (91 transit systems and counting)
  • Taxi Magic (40 cities and counting)
  • Adventure Walks (San Francisco; Washington, DC; and counting)
  • Every Body Walk!
  • American Heart Association’s Walking Paths app

Guidance

  • Encourage transit and transportation agencies to publicly release relevant data
  • Encourage mobile-technology application innovation through app competitions
  • Use satellite and GPS technology to track uses, taxis, and trains in real time
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