The Rail-Trail Sustainability Project:

While it is true that rail-trails are excellent recreational facilities, they also offer tremendous benefits as alternative transportation facilities, as community redevelopment and economic development tools and as a means to preserve and connect open space. In the last few years, RTC has worked diligently to educate both trail builders and rail users about the importance of using rail-trails as a tool for sustainable development.   As California is at the forefront of the sustainable development movement, RTC's Western Regional Field Office is positioned to lead the effort to incorporate rail-trails and other bicycle/pedestrian facilities into sustainable community development activities.

Sustainable Development
At its core, sustainable development is the integration of four important themes:

1. Economic opportunity and development
2. Community development
3. Environmental preservation and enhancement
4. Social Equity

Rail-Trails address each of these themes.

Economic Development
Until recently, few people recognized the economic value of trails. However, new information reveals that trails are a significant source of economic activity within a community, particularly in two areas:trip related expenditures and additional expenditures made by users on durable goods related to trail activities.  According to a study by the National Park Services, The Economic Benefits of Rail-Trails, the East Bay, Lafayette Moraga Trail generates almost $1.6 million in direct trails expenditures each year, and over $50 million in indirect expenditures annually. In addition to stimulating economic growth, rail-trails contribute to the economic well-being of a community through their use as transportation routes. In underserved communities, one of the most significant factors limiting economic opportunity is access to jobs. Forced to rely on inadequate public transportation, many residents of these communities lack the mobility to find and keep employment. Developing rail-trails and other bicycle/pedestrian facilities which are integrated with existing public transit systems offers a safe, attractive, and practical means of mobility for these individuals.  Using rail-trails and other bicycle/pedestrian facilities in conjunction with public transit systems ensures that transit serves the community, not just commuters.

Community Development
One of the most pressing needs of the sustainable development movement is to find innovative and ecologically sound ways to rebuild communities. The pressing challenge is to ensure that these methods incorporate community participation while improving quality of life. The integration of rail-trails into community development efforts can help build more livable communities. Furthermore, by providing underserved communities with the tools to successfully implement rail-trail projects, RTC helps build local knowledge and expertise related to a process that has applications that go beyond the building of rail-trails.
Over the last several years, the conversion and restoration of abandoned industrial properties, termed brownfields has become an increasingly popular strategy for rebuilding a community. Not only does recycling abandoned rail corridors as rail-trails offer a model for brownfields reclamation, but rail-trails can and should be incorporated into a community redevelopment efforts as a means for linking these reclaimed sites with the rest of the community in a cost-effective and conscientious manner.

Environmental Preservation and Enhancement
To ensure economic development and a more livable community, community leaders must address the environmental issues affecting the community, including toxic contamination, pollution, neighborhood beautification, and the lack of green space. The Sierra Business Council recently released a study entitled The Sierra Wealth Index, which concludes that the regions; economy is dependent not only on its financial strength, but also on the quality and integrity of its social and natural capital.

Even when development has spared open space, the few parcels which are left untouched are fragmented and often neglected. In addition, many underserved communities lack easy access to surrounding open space. Rail-trails can provide links between communities and parcels of open space - thus knitting them into a coherent whole.  Rail-trails also contribute to overall environmental restoration and improvement because they often occur in conjunction with stream restoration, tree planting and landscaping projects. Rail-trails also bring needed environmental benefits to communities such as improved physical infrastructure through creating linear parks, helping to reduce air pollution by providing transportation alternatives, and addressing health issues by encouraging physical activity, and providing a safe place to recreate outdoors.

Social Equity
In addressing the other themes of sustainable development, communities must also address the societal inequities which have created such strong divisions between affluent and underserved communities. Disenfranchised communities have borne the brunt of environmental contamination and degradation, while suffering from a lack of public investment to remedy these problems. Quality of life has not been considered in making decisions which affect these communities. Because building rail-trails is a participatory endeavor undertaken by a local community, these projects often help contribute to building community cohesiveness and pride. Rail-trails also bring needed environmental benefits to communities such as improved physical infrastructure through creating linear parks, helping to reduce air pollution by providing transportation alternatives, and addressing health issues by encouraging physical activity, and providing a safe place to recreate outdoors.

RTC Rail-Trail Sustainability Project
The Western Regional Field Office has received considerable funding to execute RTC's Rail-Trails Sustainability Project. The Rail-Trail Sustainability Project in California will:

1. Analyze the keys to successfully incorporating trail development into community development activities.
2. Develop and disseminate fact sheets and issue papers describing the value of this incorporation as well as appropriate techniques.
3. Build linkages between traditional trail constituencies, community development organizations and underserved communities to share trail development tools and techniques.