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When people think about where they want to live, they usually look at schools, amenities (such as grocery stores), and services. Many also examine their transportation options. Can they take a bus or subway to work? Bike? Walk to public transportation? How long would that take, and what will it cost?

Walk Score, the flagship product of Front Seat, a civic software company based in Seattle, has just launched “Transit Score,” a service that will help people across the country determine how transit-accessible a home or neighborhood might be. It will also aid them in figuring out the true cost of buying a home, which is the cost of housing plus transportation. In addition, with custom commute reports and a home and transportation costs calculator, this product will allow third parties to add public transit information to their websites.

Transit Score measures how well a location is served by public transportation. For instance, if a person’s transit score is 90-100, that individual is likely living in a “Rider’s Paradise,” defined as having “world-class public transportation.”

“The costs of driving to and from work and daily activities are only growing, and the time spent in traffic is lost forever,” said John Herst, Walk Score chief executive officer. “Walk Score’s new Transit Score and commute reports make it easy for consumers to quickly understand how much the location of their home and workplace impacts their daily lives.”

People living in one of the 40 cities with open transit data can receive custom commute reports that show all hills on a biking or walking route, nearby transit lines, and travel times and directions based on the mode selected. Walk Score has also joined with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, which means that users will be able to calculate their expected transportation costs, and with the real estate site ZipRealty, so all this transit-related information will become part of ZipRealty’s home listings.

This product received support from The Rockefeller Foundation. According to its press release, the foundation’s “transportation initiative is committed to helping Americans re-think our transportation future as a way to expand economic opportunity, and we are excited about the potential impact Transit Score will have in helping Americans make more informed decisions about where they will live and work,” said Benjamin de la Pena, associate director of the foundation. “Transportation costs are often the second highest expense for working Americans and Transit Score will give families more control over their household budgets by providing them with information about their transit choices.”

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