Walkit.com is an urban walking route planner

Route planning software

Route planning software is a computer software programme, designed to plan a route between two geographical locations using a journey planning engine, typically specialised for road networks as a road route planner. It can typically provide a list of places one will pass by, with crossroads and...

.

History

The site launched with coverage of central London

Central London

Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...

 in 2006. The cities of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 were then added within the first year. The service now also covers Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, Aylesbury, Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

, Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, High Wycombe

High Wycombe

High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...

, Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, Lowestoft

Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...

, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

, Newcastle and Gateshead, Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, Oldham

Oldham

Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

, Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, Salford, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, Stockport

Stockport

Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...

, Sunderland, Trafford and Wigan, with an ongoing programme of launches in new cities and towns.

walkit.com is independently owned and managed by a team of staff based in Birmingham, London and Norfolk.

Services

The site generates both A to B and circular routes, providing printable written directions and maps. As walkit.com is specifically tailored to pedestrians, it includes data that is omitted from many traditional vehicle-based journey planners, such as routes across parks, beside rivers and canals and along footpaths and alleyways. There is also the option to select a 'less busy' route, which avoids main roads where possible. Some cities also have additional features, such as step-free routes, hill profiles, and air-pollution aware routes.

walkit.com also hosts a blog page, an events page highlighting walking related events in its featured cities, and information pages on walking for health, walking to work, walking to school and going green.

In 2010, personalised walkit accounts were launched in the form of mywalkit (free) and mywalkit+ (£1.50 per month/£15.00 annually). Subscribers to the mywalkit account are able to personalise their walking speed in order to provide more accurate walking statistics. The mywalkit+ account allows subscribers to keep a log of their previous walks, as well as setting three different personalised speeds, and keep a record of their carbon savings.

walkit.com also allows users to create 'link to us' widgets for their own sites, in order to promote walking. Widgets can be specifically created for directions to or from particular destinations, between two specific locations, or for circular walks from a predefined point.

walkit.com has both a facebook fan page and group and an active twitter account.

Awards

Walkit.com has been both shortlisted for and received a number of awards since its creation.

These include one of "The Guardian's 100 top sites for 2009" http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/dec/18/internet-websites, one of "The Telegraph's 101 most useful websites of 2008" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6554835/The-101-most-useful-websites-2008.html and one of "Time Out's 50 Best London Websites" in 2008 http://www.timeout.com/london/big-smoke/features/4273/3.html.

walkit.com was named the winner of the "Most Innovative Transport Project" at the National Transport Awards in 2008 http://www.acttravelwise.org/news/1137, and shortlisted for both the "Ethical Business of the Year" by the Observer Ethical awards 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/08/ethicalliving.lifeandhealth1, and the "Media Guardian Innovation Awards" in 2008 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/28/10.