RTC TrailBlog : camden

Play Your Part in Connecting 750 Miles of Trails Around Greater Philadelphia

Jake Lynch — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:31:00 GMT

Imagine 750 miles of bicycle and pedestrian trail connecting the Philly and Camden region - linking people and neighborhoods with workplaces, shopping centers and parks.

That's the idea behind "The Circuit" - and it's coming closer to reality.
On June 17 and 19, my staff and I will be at two open meetings to provide more information on this exciting project - and to let people know how to help. Supporters of trails and building better cities for Pennsylvania and New Jersey are encouraged to come along.

Just click on this link to register.

When & Where:
Haverford Meeting (PA)
Monday, June 17
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Haverford Community, Recreation & Environmental Center
9000 Parkview Drive
Haverford, PA 19041

Camden Meeting (NJ)
Wednesday, June 19 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Camden County Boat House
7050 N. Park Drive
Pennsauken, NJ 08109

So far, more than 250 miles of The Circuit have been completed, and there are 50 miles currently being built. When complete, this incredible project will connect more than 750 miles of bike and pedestrian trails throughout Greater Philadelphia.
Attend one of these two meetings - presented by The Circuit Coalition and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia - to learn more about which trails are currently being built and how you can help make sure more progress is made to complete The Circuit.
Hope to see you there!

The CYCLE Continues - William Penn Supports RTC's Work in Camden

Jake Lynch — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:53:00 GMT

The ongoing transformation of Camden, New Jersey, is a terrific case study of what Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is about. From our core mission of recycling disused rail corridors into public pathways, in recent years RTC has expanded that work to building broader, more connected urban trail networks and encouraging new generations of Americans to walk and bike for daily transportation.

In Camden, there is an urgent need for this kind of transformation. Disconnected from the vibrant economic and social activity occurring just across the Delaware River in Philadelphia, for the last few decades Camden has suffered a lack of shops and businesses and insufficient investment in its public spaces. As a result, incomes and property levels are low, obesity and poor nutrition are problems, especially among young people. These experiences are common to underserved and at-risk populations across the country.

Enter RTC. Since 2006, our Northeast Regional Office has been working with local partners in Camden, notably the Campbell Soup Foundation, to create an improved bicycle and pedestrian network throughout Camden and beyond, and attracting the funding and support necessary for its construction. In a community where 40 percent of residents don't own a car, RTC knew that cheaper, easier options for getting from A to B had the potential to make real and significant improvements to the lives of Camden's citizens, every day.

And thanks to the William Penn Foundation, we can continue with this excellent work. The Philadelphia-based organization today announced it would provide $110,000 to continue our CYCLE program -- which enables young Camden residents to be bike-mobile and helps them explore their city. It's work we have been doing with the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties, and which over the past few years has grown from a few summer classes of about 20 students, to more than 300 kids, bike-repair workshops, destination rides and a growing awareness of how the people of Camden can get around on two wheels. This funding is complemented by funding from the Campbell Soup Foundation as well.

Spearheading the CYCLE program is RTC's own Akram Abed, who grew up in Camden and knows firsthand what a bike and a safe pathway can mean to residents whose job and study options, as well as access to stores and opportunities for recreation, are often limited.

"Affordable and convenient transportation is something we sometimes take for granted," Abed says. "It has been amazing to ride with these kids and see them exploring parts of their city they have never seen before. It is literally expanding their worlds -- what an awesome thing to be a part of."

William Penn Foundation also provided $165,000 to support the development of The Circuit -- another local project RTC is involved in. The Circuit, otherwise known as Greater Philadelphia's Regional Trail Network, aims to build on RTC's bike and pedestrian improvements in Camden and connect people, businesses, neighborhoods and employers on both sides of the Delaware River.

For more about CYCLE, check out their facebook page at www.facebook.com/CYCLECamden

Photos of the CYCLE kids cruising around Camden by RTC

RTC's Work in Camden Catches On In Boston

Jake Lynch — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:00:00 GMT

By Jake Lynch

In February of this year Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) hosted a gathering of urban planners and transportation experts in Camden, N.J., to look at the bike/ped improvements that have been made in that city and the exciting work being done to better connect Camden with Philadelphia and the region. It was work we had been doing for a number of years, supported by visionary local organizations such the Campbell's Soup Foundation and the Coopers Ferry Partnership.

Sitting in the audience that day were a few key planners from a city to the north, Boston. And they liked what they saw. The coordinated effort of businesses, bike advocates, educators, health professionals, officials and transportation planners in Camden and Philadelphia to create what is being called "The Circuit" raised their hopes for a similar initiative in Boston.

Less than a year later and that work is already underway. Led by the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Livable Streets Alliance, RTC's northeast staff has been called in to help replicate the unique collaborative success of The Circuit.

That effort in Boston continues next week with the Metro Boston Regional Trails and Greenway Summit, Dec. 11 and 12, during which RTC staff will provide an update of the future of federal trail policy and funding, and share what other cities are doing across America to advance their trail ambitions.

It's one of RTC's great strengths and what makes us unique in the world of trail building - few other organizations can combine both the on-the-ground technical trail development nous with state and federal planning and funding connections, and long relationships with elected officials and major foundations.

Keep an eye on Boston. We'll keep you updated on the good news coming out of Beantown.

Photo of RTC Northeast Regional Director Tom Sexton riding the streets of Camden by RTC

From Jersey, With Love - RTC's Newest Team Member Has Big Plans for His Own Neighborhood

Jake Lynch — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:30:00 GMT

By Jake Lynch

Always a very civic minded guy, for New Jersey's Akram Abed (right) the connection between bikes, trails, and making a positive impact in the world was first forged by the most unfortunate of circumstances: a flat tire.

As a youngster cruising around his home territory of Camden and Philadelphia, flat tire after flat tire would disable his only form of transportation and make getting around difficult and time consuming. After flat tire number 15, young Akram decided he needed to learn how to fix these things himself. He eventually found his way to a community bike garage run by Philly's Neighborhood Bike Works.

"I never forgot the spirit of the place," Akram recalls. "They made me see how such simple services have a huge impact on the real, day-to-day lives of people in our cities - for actually getting them on a bike, getting them to work or school, giving them that freedom. Biking, and knowing how to repair a bike and keep it working, really empowers a person in a real and measurable way."

Akram is all about real life impact. Born on the West Bank and raised in Camden, he studied international relations at Brown University with the idea of a career in international development or diplomacy. After a period working for local nonprofits, however, he began to see the need for that kind of energy right in his own backyard.

"In a lot of ways, Camden is like a developing nation," he says. "It has the same need for creative solutions, for ideas to improve the landscape and empower local residents."

He first partnered with RTC last year as a volunteer on the Camden County BikeShare program, and his work with encouraging young riders in the area made him the perfect fit to join our North East Regional Office in 2012 to continue building the very cool Camden Youth Cycling, Learning & Exercising program (CYCLE). Thanks to our friends at the Campbell Soup Foundation, the CYCLE program is leveraging the simple joy of young people pedaling around their neighborhoods to grow support for trails and bike/ped connections throughout the region.

His enthusiasm for biking is contagious, and by inspiring his fellow Camden residents with the endless possibilities represented by better transportation options, he is making a real and lasting impact in the city he calls home.

Photos by RTC

A Simple Machine Opens Big Door for Kids in U.S. Cities

Jake Lynch — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 16:30:00 GMT

Detroit knows what time it is. We love this great story at Mode Shift (right) about the Earn-a-Bike program Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is funding in Detroit's Osborn community. The reporter, Achille Bianchi, makes good note of the fact that programs like this one are about more than just bikes--they are "teaching youth about the benefits of place, transportation alternatives and a sense of pride in a community."

Funded by RTC's Metropolitan Grants Program - a partnership with The Coca Cola Foundation - and run by Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance and their partners in Detroit, the four-week Earn-a-Bike program has the group of boys and girls ages 10 to 14 not only learning how repair a bike but also undertaking a number of community service projects, including cleaning up the nearby Milbank Greenway.

Through the Metropolitan Grants Programs, RTC has supported Earn-a-Bike programs around the country, an important part of our recent focus on urban areas as the role of biking and walking in solving the nation's pressing health, environmental, economic and social issues becomes increasingly evident.

In Michigan, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey and Maryland, RTC-supported Earn-a-Bike programs have targeted neighborhoods where kids often have few transportation options, where obesity is a problem, where incomes are low--places where a simple machine with two wheels can make an enormous difference to young students seeking a vehicle to freedom, to exercise, and to mobility.

Next up: Houston's Third Ward neighborhood, where our friends at Workshop Houston are using an RTC grant to expand their existing bike repair shop so they can serve more kids in their popular summer Earn-a-Bike program.

Roll on, young 'uns.

Photo from Camden CYCLE program by RTC

The Sojourn Experience

Karl Wirsing (RTC) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:17:00 GMT

By Becky Chanis, Magazine Intern

Few interns get to say their summer job required them to bike more than 200 miles in a single week. Perhaps even fewer can say they asked to do it. Luckily, I am one of those few. On July 16, 2010, I packed two duffel bags and joined the staff of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) for the 8th Annual Greenway Sojourn in Camden, N.J. For one week, it would be my job to cycle from Camden to Jim Thorpe, Pa., and back again with a group of more than 300 Sojourners, experiencing and documenting the trip from their point of view.

My main reason for volunteering for such a trip was that it, of course, seemed fun; however, the Greenway Sojourn quickly became something more than a quasi-vacation. It became a learning experience, in which I saw firsthand why the mission of RTC is so relevant.

I learned that trails open up a whole new world to their users. As a lifelong city kid from Manhattan, I haven't spent much time around green things. The Greenway Sojourn often felt akin to discovering an alien planet or entering the Jurassic period: I was continually surrounded by foreign, lush landscapes. When it rained on Day 3 while we rode the Perkiomen Trail, I felt as though my senses were deceiving me. The shaded trail was filled with the dewy scent of foliage; water came down from the sky in torrents, turning a leisurely bike ride into a muddy adventure. It was all so new and fresh; I had never seen anything so beautiful. I realized trail riding was an easy way to welcome nature into my daily life.

The Sojourners' use of rail-trails also contributed exponentially to the communities that had built them. Our visits to Conshohocken, Manayunk, Jim Thorpe and several other Pennsylvania "trail towns" helped support their local economies and encourage future development. We ate locally grown produce and patronized small businesses, from restaurants to bicycle shops. We learned about local history, natural life and politics. Our weeklong trip helped sustain these communities, as well as the beautiful land that surrounds them.

It was also great to see that the support did not begin and end with the Sojourners. Fuji Bikes donated bicycles to the kids and staff from the LEAP School in Camden, N.J. (one of two schools that were sponsored to ride the Sojourn). For the adults, in addition to sponsoring the ride, Fetzer Vineyards held several wine tastings with dinner. And the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Coopers Ferry Development Association also generously and enthusiastically supported the ride.

On a personal level, the Sojourn was a way of showing my friends, family members and others that sustainable, healthy living is a viable option when you have access to great trails. Although building rail-trails is the first step, the real benefits come from using them.

RTC's 8th Annual Greenway Sojourn Under Way

Todd Christopher (RTC) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:58:00 GMT

Take 350 riders, ranging in age from 4 to 90 and hailing from 30 different states. Spend seven days riding 250 scenic miles through Pennsylvania and New Jersey on some of the most historic rail-trails and towpaths in the nation. And, for good measure, add in amazing points of interest -- not the least of which is the Battleship New Jersey in Camden, where the participants bunked down for the first night of their journey.

That's the recipe for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's 8^th Annual Greenway Sojourn, which runs from July 17-24.

And while it's an amazing adventure, there's more to this year's Sojourn than an unforgettable bike ride. It began in Camden on Sunday with a rally to celebrate one trail victory -- the start of a long-awaited, federal TIGER grant-funded improvement project to the road leading to the Ben Franklin Bridge -- and to call attention to the importance of safe, convenient walking and biking options as an integral part of sound transportation policy.

For more, read RTC's press release on the 8^th Annual Greenway Sojourn, or follow the action virtually with daily photos and Sojourn updates on RTC's Facebook page.

Sojourners at the Battleship New Jersey. Photo by Becky Chanis