A smartphone application to enhance urban walking through financial rewards

Walking is both a sustainable transportation option and an easy physical activity. Despite the clear health, environmental and economic benefits, many people are reluctant to walk to their destinations because it can be tiring or time-consuming; therefore, incentives are often needed to encourage walking. This paper presents a novel application (InWalk) that can be used to promote walking as a sustainable transportation alternative, a healthy lifestyle and a way to boost economic activity in an area. The application suggests walking routes to users that are linked to financial rewards (discounts, etc.) offered by businesses along the way. Users are motivated to walk and even take a longer route to gain access to a promotional service or product upon completion of their route. A pilot implementation of the developed application in a Greek suburb shows that it has the potential to promote walking as an exercise and stimulate economic activity, but also that it needs to be tested more thoroughly to contribute to a sustainable transportation paradigm.