Woman developing safety app for walking in NYC
BATTERY PARK CITY, Manhattan (WABC) -- An app is one woman's idea to make the streets of New York safer. She was the victim of a violent attack, and now she wants to make sure no one ever has to walk alone if they don't feel safe.
Therapist Pamela Garber is developing the Never Walk Alone safety app, intended to give people the option of walking with someone -- like a buddy system.
"The Never Walk Alone safety app provides walking companionship for vetted users," Garber says.
It is meant to provide safety in an unpredictable city.
"How could the environment be what it is, which we can't always alter or control the environment, but how could people continue to walk about the city in freedom? New York is a walking city," Garber said.
She decided not to let an experience in which she had to duck into a store after a stranger attacked her for no reason ruin her love of walking.
As her demo video explains, the idea is not to spend money on a car ride when you'd rather just walk. The app uses the same type of technology you might request a shared ride with.
"You can request an immediate time or schedule for the future," she says.
Garber's looking at different options for users.
"One is a larger-scale format that has a Citi Bike-model quality to it, and that would be a partnership with the city where there would be a meeting point for subscribing members near each subway station," Garber added.
The other model uses businesses, companies, and houses of worship.
At a time when many of us are looking at or listening to devices, Garber says her app might also make walking a little safer by getting people to walk and talk.
"New York is impromptu interactions with people. And where do these impromptu interactions happen with people? They happen out and about in the city itself. And the city itself isn't one's apartment or inside of a gym on a treadmill. It's literally walking the street," she adds.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* More Manhattan news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
