May 2010 - RTC TrailBlog

Once again, RTC has been fortunate in obtaining grant funding to conduct user surveys and economic impact analyses on trails in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Boxes containing survey forms have gone up on the Armstrong Trail in Pennsylvania, and on the Black River Wildlife Management Area, Columbia, Patriot's Path, Paulinskill Valley and West Essex trails in New Jersey. In addition, passive infrared counters have been deployed on the trails to help get an estimate of the total number of annual user visits. This is the fifth year that RTC has deployed surveys of rail-trails.

The surveys are designed to accomplish a number of objectives. They help provide a better understanding of how people use trails, where they come from and what they spend in conjunction with their trail-related activity. For trail managers, the surveys provide feedback on trail users' perceptions of the maintenance of the trail, how clean it is and how safe they feel when using the trail. On the economic side, the surveys provide counts of dollar spending on items such as bicycles and clothing, and water, snacks, meals and lodging.

RTC has collected survey responses from more than 4,000 trail users through the end of 2009. Many of the findings from the surveys are interesting. For example, on all of the surveys except one, the primary reason citied for using the trail was health and exercise. Most trail users find out about a trail from other trail users by word of mouth. In every case the majority of trail users are over the age of 45. The gender split averages 53 percent men, 47 percent women. Average spending on beverages, snacks and meals is $11. The vast majority of the trail users think that the facilities are well managed, clean and safe. Full results from RTC's previous surveys can be found in our Trail-Building Toolbox.

In addition to the trails that RTC will be surveying this summer, other trail organizations may also be looking for user input. If a survey is being conducted on a trail you visit this summer, take a few minutes to participate!

Photo: Trail users along Pennsylvania's Ghost Town Trail complete a survey.

Friends,

The Members Project competition for $200,000 in funding from American Express and Take Part is now over. The last I could tell, at just past midnight last night, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was locked in a 43%-43% tie with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the Arts & Culture category. The votes are being tallied right now and we should know the winner early next week!

American Express launched this campaign on Oscar night. At the risk of sounding like an Oscar winner who acknowledges everyone they know, I'd like to thank a bunch of folks who made this campaign so successful for RTC.

First, I would like to thank American Express for generously providing the sum total of $1,000,000 in funding to support the five winning non-profit organizations. In an era when there are ample opportunities to disparage the actions of large financial institutions, American Express has provided a sterling example of corporate responsibility.

Second, I want to thank our members and supporters who voted for RTC week after week in this competition. I am continually impressed by the passion and commitment of so many people who yearn for safe places for walking and bicycling in their community.

Third, I am pleased that RTC has been supported by so many individuals and organizations in the trails and active transportation movements whose efforts went far beyond voting. These folks-who are too numerous to list-repeatedly e-mailed, blogged, tweeted and Facebooked to urge others to support RTC. I want to personally extend my thanks to our friends at Trek, Bicycling Magazine, Bikes Belong, Climate Ride, American Trails and Bike Portland. Also, thanks to our corporate sponsors at Fetzer Vineyards who helped get the word out from the start.

Fourth, I am continually amazed by the creativity, hard work and commitment of our staff here at RTC. That we battled to a dead heat with an organization many times our size is an indication of their effectiveness and sense of purpose.

Finally, I'd like to congratulate the "peeps" over at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. We have worked together extensively in the past to preserve America's cultural heritage and we'll continue to do so in the future. While we were healthy competitors in this campaign, we are, foremost, cheerful friends in conservation.

Unlike the Oscar winners, we still don't know if we will hold the final prize. And, as Tom Petty sang, "the waiting is the hardest part." So keep your fingers crossed!

But, regardless of the final outcome, this campaign has already been a success.

Thanks again!

Keith Laughlin

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day, and commuter convoys will be happening in many cities to encourage novice bicycle commuters to hop on two wheels. While many of these convoys will have timed pit stops along the route, a convoy leader following Rhode Island's East Bay Bicycle Path to downtown Providence has come up with a way to let riders know when to head out the door and meet him on the trail. Using InstaMapper, the leader's phone will provide continuous location updates via GPS, which will be displayed on a real-time online map. The convoy begins in Bristol at 6:05 a.m. and ends in Providence around 7:15 a.m. With a convoy so early in the morning, this new tool might help some riders catch a few more minutes in bed!

Portland, Ore. - known as a bicycling Mecca but not necessarily a culturally diverse city - has been blending these two issues through the work of the Community Cycling Center's Understanding Barriers to Bicycling project. The center, founded in 1994 to provide bicycle safety and repair education, began the project in 2009. They recognized that many minority community members who would otherwise benefit from bicycling - including reduced transportation costs, health improvement and journey-time reduction - were not hopping on their bikes.

Determined to find out why, the center worked with Alta Planning + Design to complete a literature review of existing transportation research into promoting bicycling among minority communities. The center also completed a community health literature review. While no proven methods to overcome these barriers has yet been found, there has been significant research into identifying barriers among various communities, including low-income populations, women and racial minorities.

The center also conducted workshops and focus groups with various communities of color, including African American, Hispanic and African immigrant groups. The reasons for not bicycling varied between the groups, providing insight to the center on how to best tailor their programming to these various populations. In April, Alison Graves, executive director of the Community Cycling Center, presented findings of these focus groups and lessons learned from community outreach in a seminar at Portland State University. You can watch or listen to the presentation online; it's listed under "April 30."

To mark the occasion of Minneapolis joining the National Association of City Transportation Officials, Streetfilms visited the City of Lakes to document what that city is doing to make active transportation a part of everyday life. New trails and connecting infrastructure, much of it funded through the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program, have been key to boosting the numbers of bicyclists and pedestrians. Also supporting the top-notch infrastructure are community-based programs and amenities for urban pathways such as safety patrols by Midtown Greenway Trail Watch volunteers and the Freewheel Midtown Bike Center, a full-service bike station directly on the trail.

The combination of new infrastructure, innovative initiatives, soaring cyclist counts and can-do spirit (even in Minnesota's brutal winter weather!) pushed Minneapolis to the top of Bicycling Magazine's 2010 ranking of America's most bike-friendly cities. This change could happen in your city, too. Encourage your local advocates and planners to plug in to RTC's Urban Pathways Initiative to connect with more than 200 other trail practitioners working to encourage trail use in cities across the nation, and ask your U.S. representative to become a co-sponsor of the Active Community Transportation Act, which would provide competitive grants to cities that want to complete their active transportation networks.