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Florida's decision this week to set aside $50 million for the creation of a 275-mile cross-state trail is not only great news for those of us who love trails, biking, riding and hiking - it is also a tremendous shot in the arm for thousands of main street businesses and the state's economy. Long gone are the days when a "trail" was merely a quiet place to take a leisurely stroll, pedal your bike and appreciate chirping birds and swaying branches. Trails are now multi-million dollar economic engines...

Florida has some work to do. When it comes to creating walkable, bikeable environments, the Sunshine State is consistently rated one of the most dangerous places in America for anyone outside of a car. But things are starting to change, thanks in part to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) more than 20 years of advocacy and coalition building in Florida , and a dedicated community of local planners and advocates. This month, work began on a multi-use pathway alongside the Courtney Campbell Causeway...

By Laura Stark There's no way to put this nicely: the Southwest 13th Street bridge was just plain ugly. But construction is currently under way to transform the Gainesville, Fla., pedestrian overpass--which once featured cage-like siding and razor wire on top- into a magnificent gateway feature for the city. The Depot Avenue Rail-Trail , which runs across the structure, will undoubtedly benefit from the project. "You didn't feel comfortable going on the old bridge," says Diane Gilreath, project manager...

Even with hundreds of communities across America striving to build and improve their trails, greenways and bike path systems, Volusia County in east-central Florida continues to distinguish itself in its commitment to non-motorized infrastructure. This coming Saturday, February 25, the residents of Volusia County will celebrate a significant milestone in their remarkable trail-building schedule with the opening of the first segment of the much-heralded East Central Regional Rail Trail. The Volusia...

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) 25th Anniversary celebration in October , we honored a group of men and women--the inaugural Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions--who have made a remarkable contribution to the rail-trail movement during the past quarter century. We will be posting a blog story on each of the honorees during the coming weeks. Today we pay tribute to Dr. Linda Crider, who in a wide-reaching career has promoted opportunities and education for walking and biking in a diverse range...

By Mark Cheater It was a motorcycle, ironically, that got Pete Bostich into the rail-trail movement. The Orlando, Fla., resident was in a debilitating accident on his motorbike a few years ago, which led him to rail-trails as part of his recovery in 2010. Since then, Bostich has pedaled more than 3,000 miles on trails in Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Pennsylvania--"Hence, I owe RTC a lot of my time in the future for as much as I have used them!" he says. Lately, the 54-year-old retired sales engineer...

Many of you were aware of the recent effort to again gut the Florida Office of Greenways and Trails (OGT) this state legislative session. Initial efforts aimed to eliminate 16 Tallahassee positions and merge the trail operations with that of the Florida Parks Service. After a hard-fought session and many tough conversations, we can report that OGT will remain an office, it will keep its own identity and the nine state trails will continue to be managed by the same team that has set the high bar we...

This morning, Transportation for America released its annual study of pedestrian fatalities in America's urban centers. According to Dangerous by Design , more than 47,000 pedestrians were killed in the United States in the last decade, the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of passengers crashing about once a month. More than 10 percent of all of these fatalities occurred in Florida, where Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami filled the top four spots as America's most dangerous cities for pedestrians...