TrailLink 2007 Wrap-up

This year, August 8–10, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy took their biennial TrailLink conference to Portland, Ore., a hub of transportation by trails, walking and biking, and launched the 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation. This nationwide campaign aims to elevate biking and walking as mainstream transportation options in communities across the country.
 
At a time when nearly half of all trips made in America are two miles or less, and the vast majority of these short trips are taken by automobile, the practicality of making biking and walking mainstream transportation options is undeniable.

Nearly 300 attendees from 40 states and three countries were at TrailLink 2007, representing all facets of active transportation. Federal, state and local government staff members, elected officials, and representatives of nonprofit organizations, private firms and citizen advocate groups met over the course of three days on five specific conference tracks: mobility, public health, climate change, economy, and family and community. The collective experience of TrailLink attendees coupled with the expertise of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and its partners helped inform the strategies that will come into play in the campaign.
 
A central element of the 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation is to attract the federal resources that the active transportation movement needs to succeed. The plan: double the federal investment in active transportation during the next federal transportation reauthorization. Particular attention will be placed on investing directly in communities that are poised to shift driving trips to biking and walking.
 
Active transportation is already a significant piece of the mobility puzzle in many communities—including those whose representatives attended TrailLink. But strategic investments would greatly expand the contribution of biking and walking to America's transportation goals while providing Americans with a greater array of choices for how to get around, simultaneously addressing the epidemics of obesity and climate change.
 
TrailLink helped us solidify the foundation for active transportation advocacy. The next step: building on what was learned at TrailLink and driving forward this momentum of transportation change.

To stay connected to the 2010 Campaign for Active Transportation or, if you're new to the campaign, learn how to get involved. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy will be updating our site with TrailLink 2007 presentations, fact sheets, issue briefs and more to help our nationwide network of trails, biking and walking advocates make their message clear: More biking and more walking equals healthier places for healthier people.