The three planning workshops were conducted in the municipalities of Fürstenfeldbruck and Freising and at the Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning (TUM). Experts from different backgrounds such as city planners, transport planners, architects, and politicians participated in these workshops and contributed to the further development of GOAT.

We love OPEN SOURCE! It is the heart and soul of GOAT since since its start. Driven by this enthusiasm, we have created a new feature in GOAT that provides mapping challenges, encouraging users to participate in the OSM project and fill the data gaps.

By end of this year we aim to launch version GOAT1.0! To achieve a high usability and usefulness, GOAT is currently extensively tested by a group of experts in the fields of transport and urban planning. The funding provided by mFund is allowing to organize different workshops with planners from the municipalities Fürstenfeldbruck, Freising and Munich.

Data, Data and more Data! While working in the mFund project to bring GOAT’s feature to the municipality Fürstenfeldbruck, we have been looking for available information from many sources to accomplish the objectives.

In order to create livable cities and shape a more sustainable mobility, it is crucial to focus on walkable environments. However, the quality of the infrastructure depends highly on the individual. For example, one-third of the German population is temporarily mobility impaired and 28% of the population is over 60 years old, which results in different requirements, such as smooth surfaces and barrier-free footpaths.

Best experts are users! Therefore, we have started an online survey to learn more about the needs and experiences of people that have tested GOAT. The survey will be online during the entire duration of the mFund project and will support us in the development path. This will ensure a successful and practice-oriented development that will result in a comprehensive and useful tool.

We are very excited to announce the launch of a great new project within the research initiative mFund, that is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. The aim of the project is to enhance GOAT to include new features such as cycling, scenarios on land-use changes and further enhancements that improve the usability of the application.

Geo Open Accessibility Tool (GOAT) is by far not where it should be. Apart from the on-going professionalization which is seen as crucial to provide a truly useful and stable accessibility instrument, additional features will be implemented on a regular basis.

I am happy to announce that time has come for the first official release of Geo Open Accessibility Tool (GOAT). This first version is labelled GOAT.