RTC TrailBlog

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, critical investments at the heart of an outdoor recreation economy in which Americans spend $646 billion every year, $38.3 billion of that in Florida.  Did you know that Americans now spend more money each year on bicycling gear and trips ($81 billion) than they do on airplane tickets and fees ($51 billion)?

Which is why $50 million to create a coast-to-coast trail across Florida is a savvy investment in our state's tourism infrastructure, and one which will pay for itself many times over in a few short years.

This is not speculation. All across America, states with less-established tourism industries than Florida's are building sustainable, growing economies around destination trails. The prime example is the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage through western Maryland and Pennsylvania, which generates $40 million in direct spending by trail tourists each year, single-handedly sustaining small communities and sparking new commercial activity in large ones.

But destination trails are also driving the establishment of new businesses and boosting local economies in Michigan, West Virginia, California, Ohio, Utah, Montana, New York... it's a long list, and growing.

Republican Senator Andy Gardiner and Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad head a group of officials and supporters who deserve credit for their leadership and for envisioning how this facility will help re-shape Central Florida and contribute to a new and evolving Spacecoast economy.

RTC and our local partners like the Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation worked closely with Sen. Gardiner in developing and promoting such an investment in Florida's trails. It is terrific to see an elected official who is listening to his constituents and understands the strong local support for such projects in the region.

Already the national trail community is abuzz about the prospect of a 275-mile trail from St. Petersburg to Titusville. This $50 million investment to connect a number of existing rail-trails to create a continuous trail adventure across Florida will bring visitors from across America and around the world, and put this state at the forefront of a sustainable economic boom.

There is already evidence of the economic potential of rail-trail systems that connect our communities here in Florida. In downtown Dunedin, private business occupancy rates increased from 30 percent to 95 percent following the establishment of the Pinellas Trail. The West Orange, Little Econ and Cady Way trails in Orange County supported 516 jobs and had an economic impact of $42.6 million in 2010, according to a study conducted by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. In 2009, Florida's eight state trails and the Cross Florida Greenway had more than four million visitors, generating an estimated economic impact of $95 million.

This is without even touching upon the proven positive impact of local trail systems on real estate values and liveability indexes - two data points which are crucial to a region's ability to resist recession and retain residents and businesses.

So, congratulations to Florida's elected leaders for their wise and far-sighted investment in the state. At a time when the public is demanding fiscal responsibility, this investment in creating a remarkable destination trail will continue to reap returns for Floridian residents and business for many years to come. 

Photo of riders on the Pinellas Trail courtesy Pinellas County.
Photo of trail-users at a local restaurant in Maryland by RTC. 

By Jay Walljasper

The next big health care breakthrough - which could cut rates of heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, and Alzheimer's by at least 40 percent and save Americans $100 billion a year - comes from a place you'd least expect. On your block. At the park. Everywhere.

So what's this amazing treatment, which also happens to be easy, enjoyable and virtually free? It's as simple as taking a walk.

"Walking is like medicine for my patients," says Dr. Bob Sallis - a Kaiser Permanente family practitioner from Fontana, California-describing the connection between how much time his patients spend walking and their overall health. "If walking was a pill or surgical procedure, it would be on 60 Minutes."

"Being physically active is one of the most important things people of all ages can do for their health," explains Joan Dorn of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She notes that walking ranks #1 as Americans' favorite physical activity, and that doing it for as little as 30 minutes is one way to achieve significant health benefits.

US Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin announced that she is preparing a Call to Action on Walking, which is being compared to the famous 1964 Surgeon General's Report on the dangers of smoking.

"Walking is easy," Dr. Benjamin told a group of health, business, education, and government leaders who came together in Washington, D.C. to advance a national walking movement. "Everyone can do it and it's fun. We have to make being healthy joyful."

More than 100 organizations, ranging from the National PTA to the American Lung Association to AARP to NAACP to Nike, were on hand at the meeting. Despite their wide-varying missions, the vast majority of groups agreed on two common goals: 1) Encouraging everyone to walk more; and 2) Boosting policies, practices, and investments that will make communities everywhere more walkable. A national summit to launch a walking movement is now being planned for October 1-3 - stay tuned to www.railstotrails.org for details.

"For the last 60 years, we've built our communities around cars, not people," says Rails-to-Trails Conservancy President Keith Laughlin. "We've created places where it's difficult, or even dangerous, to walk. This is a shame, because regular walking is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to improve our health. The movement to create built environments to encourage walking is now a critical public health issue."

The benefits of walking don't stop at health. More people walking leads to safer hometowns, better student performance in school, a stronger sense of neighborliness, increased economic activity at local businesses and improved social equity among all Americans, notes Tyler Norris, Vice President of the large non-profit health care provider Kaiser Permanente. 

Our country's low rate of physical activity compared to other nations is not just laziness. To get Americans back on their feet we need to make movement once again a natural part of daily life. This calls for a close look at how people are either encouraged or discouraged from walking to work, schools, shops, parks and other destinations in our communities.

Real estate developer Christopher Leinberger outlines the powerful economic arguments in favor of walking. One-third of all assets in the U.S. today are real estate, he explains, "and there is a huge pent-up demand for walkable urbanism" - a term describing cities, suburbs and small towns with sidewalks and other pedestrian amenities. "All of the growth over the next generation, if we give the market what [people] want, will be walkable urbanism," states Leinberger, who is also a research professor at the George Washington University School of Business.

And walking is on the rise. Americans are walking six percent more on average than we did in 2005. Also, young people show a preference for walking. Federal Highway Administration research shows that vehicle miles traveled by drivers under 30 dropped from 21 percent of the total in 1995 to 14 percent by 2009 - an unprecedented 33 percent reduction that marks a cultural shift by the emerging Millennial Generation. And the launch of a new walking movement offers promise for substantially increasing Americans' physical activity.

Adapted from the booklet Walking Revolution. Jay Walljasper is a writer and speaker about how to make our communities more livable, sustainable, prosperous and lively.

Yesterday, President Obama proposed a budget that would keep funding for core transportation programs even with the levels authorized in MAP-21, while adding $50 billion for immediate funding of transportation projects in key areas. The proposal also takes aim at some non-DOT programs of interest to the trail and active transportation constituencies.

The President's budget cuts funding for National Heritage Areas by about 50 percent. These scenic areas house many nationally significant trails. The President also proposes to eliminate certain programs for preventive health initiatives. Meanwhile, the proposal restores funding for the urban parks program that has supported the development of many urban trails.

Rarely does the final budget as agreed upon by the President and the Congress closely resemble the President's proposed budget. RTC will continue to monitor the budget negotiations and work to protect funding for the trail and active transportation community.

As a member of the Every Body Walk! Collaborative, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is helping build a stronger movement of transportation, health, community design, environment and other advocates for the most universal form of transportation: walking.

As part of National Public Health Week, we're calling on our partners to help Surgeon General Regina Benjamin develop her Call to Action on Walkability—an effort to improve walkability and increase walking in our communities.

Through April 30, the Surgeon General is accepting public comments to help develop this Call to Action, an excellent opportunity to support walkability across the country.

Please submit comments by April 30 on how to create walkable communities.

We're hoping that the Call to Action will adopt two primary goals: 1) encourage everyone to walk and 2) advance investments, policies and practices that make communities more walkable.

There are many ways to advance these goals. The Surgeon General is interested in systems and environmental changes that further these goals.

We're suggesting that key principles be used in evaluating proposed interventions, including:

1.      Ensuring Equal Access for All - all people should have access to safe and comfortable walking environments and be able walk to important destinations.

2.      Connecting People and Places - walkable communities provide seamless networks of safe places to walk that connect people with their desired destinations.

3.      Integrating Walking into Organizational Practices - walking should be promoted in programs and policies as well as infrastructure choices.

4.      Collaboration - we want to see more collaboration among government agencies in promoting the many benefits of walking.

Please show your support for walking by submitting comments on the Call to Action by April 30.

In central Washington, the rail-trail we know as the Iron Horse State Park is one of the truly iconic trail experiences. Part of the broader John Wayne Pioneer Trail system stretching across the state, the Iron Horse's 82 miles pass through one of the most spectacular landscapes in America.

Just not at the moment.

In 2011, the threat of falling debris and rocks inside a number of the trail's tunnel passages caused the tunnels to close, effectively shutting off the trail to visitors looking for a long trail ride or hike. While a number of the tunnels have been reopened since then, tunnels 46 and 47 between Cle Elum and Ellensburg in Kittitas County remain closed, pending funding for the necessary repairs.

Local groups in Washington, including the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, are now urging the state to make an appropriate investment in its state parks and set aside the $3 million it would take to reopen the tunnels.

We think this is just smart business. A $3 million investment to repair the currently closed tunnels would return many times that amount in trail-based tourism revenue to nearby communities.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has pioneered the use of trail user visitation and spending surveys to accurately assess the value of the trails tourism economy along destination rail-trails. Thorough studies of comparable rail-trails elsewhere in America have revealed an economic impact of between $10 million and $40 million dollars a year, depending on the length of the trail and number of commercial operations nearby, much of it coming through lodging and food expenditure.

Repairing the tunnels would reopen one of America's most spectacular rail-trails and attract trail users from around the world to Washington.

Destination rail-trails like the Iron Horse are big business, and communities across America are investing a lot of time and money to build trails that will attract visitors. Not far to the east, the Route of the Hiawatha in Idaho, a spectacular rail-trail but much shorter than the Iron Horse, gets more than 40,000 users between May and October alone. The challenge there is that there are not many communities or businesses close by that can capitalize on all this traffic. Along the Iron Horse, there are a number of communities that are perfectly situated to tap into this booming, and sustainable, market.

According to a 2012 study by the Outdoor Industry Association, Americans spend about $81 billion in bicycling gear and trips each year, more on than they spend on airplane tickets and fees.

"Investing $3 million to reopen the Iron Horse State Park rail-trail would be a very wise investment for the state, and one that will repay itself many times over in additional consumer spending on meals and accommodation," says our Manager of Trail Development in the Northeast, Carl Knoch, who has been at the forefront of trail user economic impact study. "At 82 miles, the trail is long enough to require overnight stays in local communities, and that's when businesses capture the most economic benefit. But while the tunnels remain closed, trails tourists will go elsewhere. Washington has this remarkable asset that is worth many millions in tourism revenue, but it is not being maximized."

In addition to reopening the Iron Horse tunnels, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust is calling for state investment in continued trail construction in the region, including the Bellevue Regional Trail, and in Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Basin and Raging River State Forest.

We agree that investing in the preservation and promotion of Washington's remarkable natural resources makes good sense for the state's residents and businesspeople. Lend your support at mtsgreenway.org

Photo of riders on the Iron Horse courtesy funplaceswashington.com

Last month, we posted our analysis of the impact of sequestration on the nation's trails, and biking and walking infrastructure.

On March 1, as scheduled, federal agencies were subject to mandatory funding cuts. As we expected, monies in the Highway Trust Fund were protected from cuts, and programs funded with these monies continue as normal.

However, programs administered with funds outside the Highway Trust Fund have been subjected to cuts of between 8 and 10 percent for this fiscal year. That includes Community Development Block Grants, CDC Community Transformation Grants and other programs that fund the development of trails and active transportation networks.

The cuts from sequestration will start to be felt in local communities in early-mid April once federal agencies have reduced their staffing and spending plans.

For several years now, the federal government has been operating on short-term budgets. The latest "continuing resolution" (Washington speak for short term budget) ends on March 27. The Congress passed a new continuing resolution providing funding through the end of this fiscal year (Sept 30, 2013). This budget maintains spending for highway programs as authorized in MAP-21, but also the cuts imposed by the sequestration law on other programs.

The spending battle now moves on to the FY 2014 budget for the year beginning October 1, 2013. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy continues to monitor federal actions related to spending levels, and we are pushing for full funding for all programs that promote trails and active transportation. We will continue to update you as we learn more. Thank you for your support. 

Recognizing the tremendous tourism value of biking and walking trails in America's world-renowned wilderness areas, the U.S. Forest Service has announced it will expand the non-motorized trail network in Montana.

Earlier this month the Superior District Ranger for Lolo National Forest in northern Montana, Tawnya Brummett, handed down her department's plans for the Route of the Olympian, which follows approximately 30 miles of disused Milwaukee and Northern Pacific railroad line.

While much of this casually-maintained corridor will remain open to both motorized and non-motorized uses throughout the year, the U.S. Forest Service has responded to the appeals of trail users and trail-related business owners by designating a section of the trail connecting the town of Saltese to the Route of the Hiawatha open to non-motorized uses only during the summer months.

It is terrific to see so much local energy to expand upon the potential of the amazing rail corridor system in this particularly beautiful part of the country. As we saw from the public comments submitted to the forest service, there is a strong awareness among people in the region that connecting destination rail-trails like the Hiawatha to the communities nearby is a key part of how you build a trails tourism economy. This section will help do that.

Referred to in the U.S. Forest Service's findings document as "Milwaukee segments 1A and 1B," these 3.7-mile and 4.9-mile segments of trail will connect the Route of the Hiawatha's northern trailhead to the Dominion trestle, and then run from the Dominion trestle to Saltese.

The Route of the Hiawatha is one of RTC's 26 Rail-Trail Hall of Fame inductees, and RTC staff has worked with locals to help develop plans and strategies for continued trail development in an area where land owner and land management issues can make creating rail-trails difficult.

There is a lot at stake, and the potential rewards are great.

"The Northwest trail system is one of the best in the country and would likely be the best in the world if key connections can be made," says Leo Hennessy, non-motorized trails program manager for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.

Reading the public comments received in support of creating a non-motorized connection to the Route of the Hiawatha, it is obvious that recreational tourism is an important part of the region's future.

"This Olympian Trail will likely bring 10,000 to 20,000 visitors to our county within two years of its opening. This is the greatest potential economic boost for Mineral County in 20 years and perhaps the greatest it will encounter in the next 20 years!" wrote one supporter.

"I believe maintaining this trail non-motorized will bring in tourists from far and wide to enjoy such an opportunity. The economic benefits would be significant," wrote another.

We agree.

Photos by RTC