Route You: Turning Point to Point Directions Into a Journey

Now here's an idea I would never have thought of in a million years, but which I immediately took a shine to.

Route You is a service that helps people NOT behind the wheel get from place to place on paths that meet their goals, interests, and criteria. So, say you are in SF, and want to get from California and Market to Coit Tower. If you go via a route defined by Mapquest or similar, it'll take you on a path that works for a car, but not for a pedestrian. Or a bicyclist. And it'll take you on a path without regard for aesthetics or your interests. Driving sites emphasize bigger roads and fewer traffic lights, not the safest or most agreeable pedestrian route.

Route You asks your mode of transportation and then your interests. Then it defines a recommended path and lets you experience it in advance. When you're satisfied, you can print a copy or put it on your GPS phone or PDA.

Here's some copy on their site:

RouteYou.com website and RouteYou web-components

The RouteYou.com website offers the end-users a selection of routes and a set of tools such as the RouteViewer to explore the routes in an interactive way. The user can print routes or download routes in a digital (navigation) format.









The user can also create routes using the RoutePlanner, and share the route via groups.

The RouteYou.com website offers a platform for the user of out-door routes, for content providers, application builders, organisations, advertisers,...

And here's their elevator pitch from the Crunch:



SO, guess what? This is a Euro concept. While there are a small number of pedestrian friendly cities in the US, it's not gonna be much value in a Houston or a Phoenix. But that's OK. This is a European company. I'd say that this is a concept with legs, but it's too poor a pun. Instead I will say that I bet tourist bureaus and local advertisers will be on this like bees on honey.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.