Walking should be safe and enjoyable for everyone. When it isn’t, we walk less, and loose the health, social, environmental, and economic benefits associated with living in more walkable places.

The latest reports include helping public transport users access stations as part of the Active to Public Transport project (A2PT). Reports can be accessed here for Ulm and Neu Ulm, Burgenland, Czechia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Other recent uses of the app include empowering young people in Malta as part of the MyMobility project; supporting school children in Kumasi, Ghana as part of the Trans Safe project; and improving inclusion in metro station public spaces in Lisbon, Portugal.

BACKGROUND

The app is coordinated by Walk21, with the support of Alstom, City of Lisbon and EIT Climate KIC. It builds on the success of earlier versions that have already helped children in Colombia and Rwanda, women in Ireland, and public transport users in Lagos, Belgrade, Cairo and Lusaka benefit from public space upgrades after sharing their walking experiences.

New functionalities include being able to add photos related to the experience, collect data offline, edit or update observations with latest information, or choose user roles for different types of data collection. The app also includes some gamification, communication, and social features to build walking communities and encourage participation.

The app is available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Swedish, Czech, Greek and Norwegian.

Targeted and effective policies

The app has been designed to assist the development and delivery of targeted and effective walking policies. It is an effective tool for enabling citizens of any age, gender or ability, to share their experiences. The geo-located data provides an opportunity for city planners and engineers to invest in a programme of works more confidently so that more local needs are met and better safety, comfort and enjoyment outcomes all citizens are more likely.

Since 2017, Walk21 has been supported by CEDEUS, GIZ, Alstom Foundation, and others, to develop tools that help make a positive impact. Special thanks for the personal contributions from an amazing international team including: Stefan Steiniger, Carlos Canas, David Vale, Eduardo Picardo Rodriguez, Eleanor’s Gargiulo, Gladys Moraa, Lucia Brisudova, Paschalin Basil, Martha Delgado, Maja Karoline Rynning, Richard Vinc, Ana Zhibaj, Martin Schafer, Christian Metzger, Zhuangyuan Fan, Lorraine D’Arcy, Lia Ferreira, Pedro Alves Nave, Joao Pedro Bernardino, Warwick Townsend, Philip and Agnes at Spotteron, Valentina Kroker, Trish Fox, Mariam Nada, Daniel Sauter, Andreas Friedwagner, Milena Vukmirovic, Rebecca Taylor, Tristan Mcmichael,  Barry Howe, Abdelrahman Melegy, Cecile Texter, Daniel Oviedo, Tamara Bozovic, Lottie Stainer, Petra Syrova, Chilekwa O’Brien, Alphonse Nkurunziza, Moise Bitanganza, Carly Gilbert Patrick, Monse, Matius and several others.

Walk21 is indebted to Alstom, the Municipality of Lisbon, and EIT Climate-KIC for their support with creating the new Walkability app.