Walk Score Tool Now Measures Actual Pedestrian Routes

Walk Score developer Front Seat has addressed a flaw in its scoring system that could help the already-popular program see greater adoption by city planners and others, reports

New Urban News.

Walk Score’s “Street Smart” feature measures distances based on the actual routes available to pedestrians rather than as the crow flies—greatly refining the accuracy of its scores. The Street Smart version also takes into consideration intersection density, link/node ratio (number of streets going into each intersection), and block length. Front Seat says that more than 10,000 websites feature Walk Score data, and the tool has been adopted by planning departments in major cities such as Phoenix and Washington, D.C.

It is also being used by real estate agents to help buyers find homes in walkable neighborhoods. Future plans for Walk Score include refining the system to calculate pedestrian safety and identifying which types of amenities prompt the most pedestrian trips. Visit www.walkscore.com for more information.