Can Walk Score Really "Walk the Walk"?

Two weeks ago, I blogged about a useful website - Walkscore.com.  This blog entry is a follow up to a recent article I read: "Walk Score Can't Walk the Walk", which cited insufficiencies to the website with it not being entirely accurate with the "walk score" it produces for a specific location.  The article talked specifically about Altanta, GA but I thought it was prudent to provide this piece to our readers so you are accurately informed about the website. 

Rarely would the Conservative Planner and James Howard Kunstler be able to see eye to eye. But such is the case when it comes to the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and their interesting selection of Atlanta as the host city for their 2010 gathering.

The Conservative Planner attended several sessions, including one where a doctor associated with the National Institutes of Health raved on and on about Walkscore.com and how it should be applied by physicians when prescribing more activity to obese children and adults. This brought great internal chuckle, given the setting.

One only had to take a stroll around the Hilton in downtown Atlanta to see the inherent flaws in this online tool. Type the Hilton’s address in Walk Score (255 Courtland Street NE, Atlanta, GA) and it will tell you that it is a “86 – Walker’s Paradise” (now “86 – Very Walkable” due to recent changes and thanks to Human Transit).

Nevermind the fact there are 4- and 5-lane one-way streets with high speed traffic surrounding the hotel. Interstates 85/75 runs to the north and east of the hotel and is a major pedestrian barrier. The restaurants that are deemed by Walk Score to be nearby and within walking distance are buried within the Marriott and Hilton hotels, which are 1960s/1970s behemoths. It is hardly a walking paradise; it may be in a downtown area but the street system is strikingly suburban.

To read the entire article, click here. 

MCCC extends shuttle into spring semester

Montgomery County Community College, one of GVF's partners, will continue its pilot transportation shuttle program between its Central and West campuses for the spring 2011 semester, which runs from Jan. 19-May 11. The shuttle, which is managed by GVF, enables students to travel back and forth between campuses for classes and activities.


The shuttle pilot was rolled out on September 1, free of charge to the College’s students during the current fall semester. Students can continue to ride the shuttle for free through the spring semester extension.  The College is also adding Fridays to its shuttle schedule for the spring, with five departures per day from each campus between 6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., starting and ending at the West Campus in Pottstown.

MCCC Shuttle Kick-Off Press Event: (From left to right) Student Calvin Wang, Student Nicole Weising, Sue Kopystecki of TransNet, MCCC Vice President of IT Celeste Schwartz, MCCC Facilities Manager George Shal, GVF Assistant Director Maureen Farrell, MCCC President Karen A. Stout, Jennie Duffy of GVF and Jacqueline McClure of GVF.

MCCC and GVF are extremely happy with the success of the shuttle thus far, which is averaging approximately 115 rides per week at the mid-point of the current fall semester. Extending the pilot for the spring will enable the College to gather more accurate ridership data, as students can plan their spring semester course schedules around the shuttle’s departure times.

The shuttle, which is operated by Suburban Transit Network (TransNet), can accommodate up for 14 passengers, is wheelchair accessible, and is equipped with Wi-Fi. Each run will take 45 to 50 minutes, with rush hour runs taking up to one hour.

The shuttle pilot ties into the College’s Sustainability and Students Success initiatives.

Since signing the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2007, the College has put into place policies and procedures that reduce its carbon footprint. The shuttle program has the potential to reduce vehicle usage by up to 3,900 miles daily if the bus operates each trip at full capacity.

GVF has been assisting MCCC with reducing its carbon footprint by sitting on their Transportation Committee.  The shuttle is just one of the initiatives we are assisting them with.  If you are interested in learning more about the services GVF can provide, such as shuttle management and/or assistance with your greening initiatives, please contact Maureen Farrell at 610-354-8899.

Ever Wonder What Your Neighborhood's Walking Score Is?

At GVF’s most recent event, its Land Use Seminar, Geoff Anderson, President & CEO of Smart Growth America was our keynote speaker. During his presentation, Geoff provided the audience with a very interesting website: WalkScore.com. When you log onto WalkScore.com and enter a specific address, it will provide you with a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of that address.

As you read this, you may already know how walkable or not walkable your residential and/or place of employment neighborhood is but when you enter the specific address, in addition to the rating you receive, the website displays a Google map with the surrounding attractions, such as restaurants, shopping, which could potentially be walking distance for you. The website will also provides you with the different transit options available from that location. Once you have your Walk Score, you can also get your Energy Score, as well as several other useful information.

If you are an employer or employee that received a low walk score for your area, GVF can assist with providing services to educate employees on the different commuting alternatives available to them, such as carpooling, biking, public transit. GVF operates numerous programs, such as the Bike to Work Challenge, which encourages riders to “ditch their car” and ride their bike at least once a week to work.



GVF manages Mongtomery County Community
College Campus Shuttle



Some office locations are unable to provide on-site amenities but in an effort to be more sustainable, the company does not want all their employees leaving everyday for lunch in their single occupancy vehicles. Therefore, a company can offer a shuttle service, which could provide transportation to a local shopping center, for example. Another type of shuttle a company offers is operating it before and after work to transport employees to and from area transit centers. GVF manages several different community and corporate shuttles. For more information on these shuttles or if you are interested in starting one for your business or community, please visit http://www.gvftma.com/. 

Drexel to purchase enough wind energy to meet power needs

Although Drexel University is not in GVF's service area, below is an interesting article on one of their initiatives, which some of GVF's partners may be interested in.

Drexel University will pay to have an amount of wind power generated annually that is equal to the amount of power it consumes.  Drexel said that it has agreed to purchase renewable energy certificates from Radnor, Pa.-based Community Energy.

The deal will make Drexel among the 50 largest purchasers of wind energy in the country and put it among the top five universities in terms of wind power purchased.

Drexel has been purchasing wind renewable energy certificates since 2002 and has been steadily increasing the amount it purchases. Neither it nor Community Energy said how much it will pay for the certificates. They did say the university consumes 84,268 megawatt hours.

Drexel is based in the section of West Philadelphia known as University City and has more than 19,500 full- and part-time graduate and undergraduate students.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal