Application for Locational Intelligence and Geospatial Navigation (ALIGN): Smart Navigation Tool for Generating Routes That Meet Individual Preferences

Efficient mobility and high accessibility to urban services are critical for residents’ quality of life and health. The outdoor environmental barriers, such as uneven sidewalks and missing curb cuts, can significantly impair pedestrian mobility, especially for people with disabilities. Removing those barriers is expensive and time-consuming. The Application for Locational Intelligence and Geospatial Navigation (ALIGN) is an app for mobile devices that intelligently identifies routes that are tailored to the individual’s specific needs and abilities. Since ALIGN is built on real-time or near real-time data, it can complement as well as benefit from other “smart city” related efforts. The ALIGN app is designed to provide customized routes in a city for every user and to create a repository of user behaviour that can inform policy and planning decisions in prioritizing community mobility improvement projects.