Calories to burn? Pollution to cut? One website is helping walkers

AN award-winning website encouraging people to walk instead of taking the car is being launched this week in Glasgow.

Walkit. com generates maps of how to get by foot between any two points in the city. It also estimates how long it will take, how many calories you will burn and how much pollution you will save.

"Walking can often be the smartest transport option, " said Jamie Wallace, founder of walkit. com. "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 Lycra or padding needed. And, best of all, no waiting - you're in charge."

The website suggests, for example, that a walk from Queen Street Station to Glasgow University would take 39 minutes at a medium pace.

That would burn 158 calories and avoid a car emitting 0.64 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

A walk from Central Station to the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre would take 27 minutes at a medium pace, it says, or 41 minutes at a slow pace. That would burn more than 100 calories and save 0.45kg of carbon dioxide from a car, or 0.58kg from a taxi.

Walkit. com works for seven other cities in the UK, including Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The plan is to include all major cities by the end of the year.

Backed by Glasgow City Council and the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, walkit. com for Glasgow is due to be unveiled on Monday.

Wallace pointed out that walking can have unexpected rewards. "You may discover beautiful corners of the city you never know about, and arrive at your destination fitter, less stressed and on time, " he said.

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