WalkRollMap.org
Crowdsourcing reports of pedestrian hazards, concerns, missing amenities, and incidents. Anyone, from anywhere, can report. Even you.
Not everyone has access to safe and comfortable places to walk or roll. Sidewalks might be crumbling, narrow, or nonexistent. The safe way across a busy street might result in a frustrating 500 meter detour. Access to your closest bus stop could be blocked by ice and snow for weeks on end. Or perhaps you’ve experienced a scary near miss with a vehicle or have recently tripped and fallen. All these experiences factor into our decision to walk and may be barriers to walking, especially for people who have limited mobility.
Crowdsourcing offers a way to fill in the data gaps left by traditional sources such as police reports or insurance claims. Building upon their experience with BikeMaps.org, the research team has created WalkRollMap.org to gather reports of barriers to safe, comfortable walking or rolling on sidewalks and pathways. Website users can map three different types of reports:
1) Hazards or concerns (sidewalk, crossing, weather or seasonal related, safety etc.)
2) Missing amenity (sidewalk, bench, lighting etc.)
3) Incident (collision, fall, or near miss)
Participation is anonymous, but demographic details such as year of birth, gender, and ethnicity are collected to better understand who the project has reached and how people may experience barriers in the built environment differently. Data collected by WalkRollMap.org will be shared with municipalities and advocacy groups to help improve the pedestrian environment.
Have something to report? Simply go to WalkRollMap.org on any device if reporting something related to the pedestrian experience or BikeMaps.org to report or map something from your bike riding experience.
TEAM
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Trisalyn Nelson (UCSB Geography; UVic Adjunct)
- Co-Applicants: Dr. Meghan Winters (SFU) & Dr. Daniel Fuller (Memorial University)
- Collaborators: Dr. Marie-Soleil Cloutier (INRS) & Dr. Denise Cloutier (UVic)
- Project Manager, Karen Laberee: klaberee@uvic.ca
FUNDING
WalkRollMap.org was developed with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
