RTC Surveys Trail Users in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

During the past six years, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) Northeast Regional Office has conducted a number of user surveys for rail-trails in Pennsylvania.

Feedback from these surveys provides important information on levels of rail-trail use and how much economic impact rail-trails can produce for local communities. Questions on the surveys include how many nights visitors stay in local accommodations during their trail visit, how much they spent on items like beverages, snacks, sandwiches, ice cream and meals, and where people travel from to use the trails. "One of the most surprising statistics we received was that respondents came from 57 of the 67 counties in the state," says Carl Knoch, manager of trail development for the Northeast Regional Office. Trail managers use this data to understand the type and frequency of users their trail sees.

The first completed survey was of the 64-mile Pine Creek Rail Trail in north-central Pennsylvania. "Slightly more than 1,000 trail users responded to the survey over an eight-month period," says Knoch.

Following the Pine Creek survey, Knoch, along with Pat Tomes, program manager for the Northeast Regional Office, completed a survey and analysis for the 19.5-mile Perkiomen Trail outside of Philadelphia; the 56-mile Schuylkill River Trail, running from downtown Philadelphia west to Valley Forge and north through Pottstown, Pa; and the 36-mile Ghost Town Trail in the coal mining region of western Pennsylvania. Tomes completed a fifth trail user survey on the Armstrong Trail in 2011 and just released the newest survey analysis (2012) for the Lebanon Valley Rail-Trail and Conewago Recreation Trail, which indicates an estimated 125,244 annual users and a total economic impact of $1,326,117 per year.

"The largest difference we see in the overall economic impact of the trails occurs between those communities that have made an effort to market themselves to trail users, like the communities along the Great Allegheny Passage or Pine Creek Trail, and those trails that pass through rural areas with little or no retail," says Tomes. "Trail users will support those retail areas that reach out to them." 

Survey boxes were placed on the Schuylkill River Trail in 2008 and 2009. The final report was released in February 2010. The Ghost Town survey took place through the summer and fall of 2009 and has become an effective tool to enhance the promotion of the Ghost Town Trail. "The Ghost Town Trail is a fabulous trail to visit and stay overnight," says Tomes. "We used the survey report throughout our planning process for the 2011 Greenway Sojourn, which brought hundreds of people to the area."

The vast majority of trail managers don't have the ability or funding to conduct surveys or measure user numbers, such as with infrared counters. So when trail managers are able to utilize these resources RTC provides, their leverage in seeking more maintenance and operation funding grows exponentially—not to mention their case for extending their trail or building others. "Additionally," says Tomes, "these trail user surveys point out the broader benefits of active transportation, beyond a positive eceonomic impact. In Allegheny County for example, health partners and education specialists are using the trail to increase the activity level of their students."

Funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Growing Greener program was used to support five of the six  Pennsylvania surveys.