If you are visiting a new place, especially a city, the chances are you will spend some of your time walking. So it would be great to know which streets are best for walking, wouldn’t it? This is the concept of Walkonomics, an app that aims to highlight a city’s most pedestrian-friendly streets. So far the cities of San Francisco, Toronto, New York, London and Glasgow have Walkonomics aps. These apps, for both iPhone and android gadgets, reveal the most “walkable” streets. More than 700,000 streets have been detailed so far. Walkable streets are rated as being great and safe places to walk. So they might be clean of litter and graffiti, have beautiful architecture, boast good lighting, have lots of crossings, easy gradients and lots of signposting. There are the factors that make a street more or less walkable: Road safety: How safe do you feel from traffic on this street? It is influenced by actual road accident statistics (where available), street type, traffic speeds and activity. Easy to cross: How easy it is to cross the street at regular points along the street? Pavements: Are pavements/sidewalks provided along the street? Are they high quality? Are they wide enough? Do they have a lot of unnecessary clutter/furniture on them? Hilliness: Is the street flat or on a hill? How steep is any slope? If the street is steep, are any handrails or seats provided? Navigation: How easy is it to find your way around in this street and area? Are any street names, pedestrian signs or maps provided? Fear of crime: How safe do you feel from crime? It is influenced by crime statistics (where available) as well as perceived fear or crime. Other factors include lighting, vandalism, graffiti and presence of police. Smart and beautiful: How clean is the street? Is there much litter or vandalism? Is it regularly cleaned? Does the street have any trees or other green vegetation? Are the buildings attractive and in good condition? Fun and relaxing: Is this a fun, interesting and popular place to be? Walkonomics was founded by a keen walker and promoter of safe places to walk, Adam Davies, but also calls on people – and communities – who are walking city streets to add to the ratings of preferred streets.

Newest app is for Glasgow, Scotland

The new Glasgow Walkonomics app has been developed in partnership with data from FutureCity Glasgow and has mapped and rated more than 20,000 street segments in the city for pedestrian-friendliness. The app also provides a “WalkHood” map for Glasgow locations, which shows which parts of the local neighbourhood can be reached on foot in five minutes. Many of Glasgow’s footpaths and park paths gained the highest rating of more than over four stars, including a footpath through Garrowhill Park. Other streets that were rated as very walkable included: The SECC Precinct for the Commonwealth Games, Fordyce Street and Sauchiehall Street. See Walkonomics for more information. Download the apps here: iPhone and Android If you are planning a Scottish walking or cycling tour you might also stop in Glasgow to visit many of the city’s attractions. The Walkonomics app could well be a useful addition to your trip. Also see 9 great phone apps for walkers and 10 more phone apps for walkers.