Working alongside utility companies across the country, many communities build safe and accessible trails within utility corridors. Some of the most visible examples of these trails span miles under large power lines, but there are many other types of utilities – including water, sewer, natural gas, electric and fiber optic – that also share trail […]

Whether you are building a new trail or already maintaining one, it is critical to determine your maintenance costs. Once you determine baseline costs you can more accurately determine  if your practices and methods are cost-effective. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, together with several local trail managers, has created a worksheet to enable you to capture your maintenance costs […]

Join Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) as we unveil the 2021 Transportation Alternatives Data Exchange (TrADE) report and discuss important new federal funding sources implemented through your state department of transportation. This webinar focuses on the new Carbon Reduction Program, as well as important new guidelines, funding and eligibility in the Transportation Alternatives program. Learn more about […]

The costs of rail-trail and multiuse trail maintenance are not well documented as a discipline—thus making it very difficult to compare practices for gaining cost savings and efficiencies. The purpose of this table is to quickly give a general sense of the routine maintenance cost per mile of various types of multiuse trails in different […]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) is the largest dedicated source of funding for trails, walking and biking in the United States. Since 1991, this program, formerly known as Transportation Enhancements (TE), has transformed the landscape of the country. Under the program, states have been able to make critical investments in building safe places […]

Trails provide substantial benefits for people and communities, but an important issue is whether these benefits impact property values and can contribute to gentrification.  RTC’s original research examines the relationship between trails and property values and guidance from experts on how to maintain housing stability and equitable access to trails. To learn more about RTC’s work on Trail Networks and Housing Stability, visit https://www.railstotrails.org/housing/   Our ‘Trail Networks and Housing Stability’ webinar series will convene experts from the fields of housing and community development to discuss the impact […]

Trails provide substantial benefits for people and communities, but an important issue is whether these benefits impact property values and can contribute to gentrification.  RTC’s original research examines the relationship between trails and property values and guidance from experts on how to maintain housing stability and equitable access to trails. To learn more about RTC’s work on Trail Networks and Housing Stability, visit https://www.railstotrails.org/housing/   Our ‘Trail Networks and Housing Stability’ webinar series will convene experts from the fields of housing and community development to discuss the impact […]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE GREAT AMERICAN RAIL-TRAIL VISION Imagine pedaling across the entire country on a safe, seamless and scenic pathway—or walking a local trail that connects you to historic routes from coast to coast. You’re enthralled in the experience of exploring America’s heritage—its potential, its beauty and bounty, its people and places. Consider the intimacy […]

In recent years, concerns have emerged through location-specific studies about the correlation between trails and gentrification, especially in high-profile urban trail markets with significant housing cost pressures. To better understand the relationship between trail development and housing stability in a wide range of neighborhoods and housing markets, RTC partnered with researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Brookings Institution to study this issue further, and with Johns Hopkins University’s 21st Century Cities […]

Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which passed last November, the Transportation Alternatives (TA) program is set to receive a 70% increase on average over the next five years in funds that support the development of trails and active transportation infrastructure. This latest iteration of the TA program includes program innovations to help more communities […]