No option to un-select the creepy alleys on your map app

Sydney Morning Herald

01-05-2025

Phone apps can warn users of road tolls, freeways, hills and stairs but when it comes to walking safe at night, there's no option to un-select the creepy alleys and dark, lonely streets.
One solution? Belinda Mackay, an urban planner, prefers to walk next to a main road, which she says is more likely to have good lighting.
'If you're going to a new area, and Google Maps tells you it's a five-minute walk from the train station to where you need to go, there's no way of knowing that pathway that's being suggested is well-lit,' she said.
'You might find that, actually, the route suggested doesn't look particularly safe, so you're trying to then have to make a decision, mid-trip, on how to continue your journey while feeling safe.
'I'm following Google Maps, and I'm like, oh, down that alleyway? I think not actually – let's try another route.'
DemosAU research reveals 84 per cent of Queensland women feel unsafe walking or running alone at night, compared with 47 per cent of men.
'It also shows that younger women and women aged above 55 are particularly concerned about safety, actively avoiding walking home or catching public transport because they don't feel safe,' DemosAU spokeswoman Casey-Ann Seaniger said.
And as thousands of fans descend on Brisbane's Caxton Street and Suncorp Stadium for the Women's State of Origin and NRL Magic Round from Thursday, a group of volunteers will walk the streets nearby as part of a project to identify issues that need fixing to increase safety for women and girls, known as the Safe Streets Night Walk.