I noticed this through a comment left on our WalkScore post from a a few months ago.
Apparently, the popular for sale by owner (FSBO) website Fizber has launched a new service in the vein of WalkScore called DriveScore. Actually, “in the vein of” is a bit of a misnomer as DriveScore appears to be copied almost exactly from WalkScore. They followed the same menu template, using similar titles like “Why DriveScore Matters,” “How It Works,” and “How it Doesn’t Work.” And on the “How it Doesn’t Work” page, they’ve even lifted the first item completely:
Compare DriveScore:
We’ll be the first to admit that Drive Score is just an approximation of a convenient driving to places in your neighborhood. There are a number of factors that contribute to DriveScore that are not part of our algorithm:
Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic.
To the WalkScore page:
We’ll be the first to admit that Walk Score is just an approximation of walkability. There are a number of factors that contribute to walkability that are not part of our algorithm:
Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic. Short blocks make it easier to navigate the grid.
Too bad they left out the bit about short blocks on DriveScore. Apparently, they don’t understand the inherent benefits of a street grid and short blocks in making it easier and quicker to drive as well by providing alternate routes and dispersing traffic. But I digress…Since when did drivability become something that needed to be measured?
Isn’t everything these days “drivable?”