walkit.com marks a step change for Glasgow

NEWS RELEASE

23.06.08

Today sees the Glasgow launch [1] of the award–winning [2] online walking route planner www.walkit.com.

At www.walkit.com you can generate a walking route map between any two points in the city centre [3]. Each route map includes a journey distance, the walking time (according to a slow, medium or fast walking pace), a calorie burn, and even the amount of CO₂ saved by not going by car, taxi or bus!

For example:

• Queen Street Station to Glasgow University
• St Enoch Station to The People’s Palace
• Central Station to SECC

walkit.com launched in London in September 2006 and has a mission to get people walking more in and around town. It lets people make more informed decisions about whether walking might be their best option for shorter urban journeys.

In 2007, the site received over 440,000 visits and generated nearly 670,000 walking routes. It now operates in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle/Gateshead and Leeds, Derby, Aberdeen and Newcastle/Gateshead, with Glasgow launching today.

Jamie Wallace, founder of walkit.com, said: “Walking can often be the smartest transport option. It’s the quick, free, green and healthy way to get around town. No traffic jams. No need for intimacy with strangers on public transport. No need for lycra or padding.  And best of all, no waiting – you’re in charge.”

“And in an age of persistent road congestion, climate change crisis and an increasingly overweight population, walking can provide a solution to all three at the same time.”

Glasgow City Councillor Alastair Watson said: “I would encourage everyone to use this website. Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, it’s socially inclusive and it’s free. If you live close to your workplace, why not walk? And if you don’t, why not join up your journey by taking public transport most of the way and walk the last 20 minutes or so? You’ll really feel the benefit.”

The service receives great feedback on a daily basis [4] and will be rolled out to all the UK’s major cities by the end of 2008.

ENDS

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

[1] The Glasgow launch has received support from Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.

[2]

• Runner up, Ethical Business of the Year – Observer June 2008
• 101 Most Useful Websites – Sunday Telegraph March 2008
• The 50 Best London Websites – Time Out February 2008
• Runner up, Media Guardian Innovation Awards 2008
• Winner – TalkTalk Innovation in the Community Award 2007
• Most Original Business Concept – BT Essence of the Entrepreneur Competition 2007

[3] The service works best for an area within a 5km radius of the city centre.

[4] Example feedback (from existing cities)

June 16
• “Bang on the money! Used walkit to get from a hotel in London to a meeting at RIBA, I loved the references to local places, made the walk a lot more interesting.  Keep up the good work.”

June 14
• “I love your site, it’s great.  Just the other day I was using it to demonstrate to my colleagues that it was faster to walk than to get the bus.”

June 11
• “very good website. The walking maps are great, I like the ‘pollution free’ routes for walking – gives more of an incentive for people to walk, especially in big cities with lots of traffic e.g. London.”


• “Fantastic concept.  Well done.  I am visiting from Aberdeen on business and will walk it from the underground.”


• “AMAZING SITE! So useful as a public transport user!”

June 9
• “Your timings and directions are spot on I do the walk twice a day 5/6 days a week”

June 7
• “i think this is genius”

June 6
• “found this the best site after searching many others thank you”


• “This website is fantastic - so useful. I walk a lot in Birmingham and this is helping me to walk to places I always thought too far before simply by suggesting a more direct route than the one I am familiar with.”

June 2
• “I just wanted to say what a great service this is! I really like it! Also the fact that you have added Derby is brilliant! (I may be a little biased but that’s my home town). It nice to see Derby being included in initiatives like this!  Thanks a lot and keep up the great work!”