This is a Toolkit for Building Rail-Trails to assist in organizing your project and building your rail-trail. We provide tips and suggestions. We provide tips and suggestions, as well as models for you to adapt to your particular community and trail situation. Use this guide as you rally your first supporters, meet with the public to […]

“Active Transportation for America” makes the case and quantifies the national benefits—for the first time—that increased federal funding in bicycling and walking infrastructure would provide tens of billions of dollars in benefits to all Americans. By making active transportation a viable option for everyday travel, we will cost-effectively reduce oil dependence, climate pollution and obesity […]

Trails and green space are important community amenities that help to spur economic development. From home owners choosing to live along a park-like trail to bicycle tourists making their way from small town to small town, trails are important community facilities that attract people and dollars.

New trail managers are often concerned that managing a trail will expose them to liability for trail-user injuries, or worry about the high cost of purchasing insurance to protect from potential lawsuits. However, trail managers have a number of legal protections that limit their exposure to liability. As a result of these legal tools, when coupled […]

This document is a sample agreement between a non-profit or political subdivision and a railroad for interim trail use/railbanking. The document serves as a resource and should not be relied on as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a licensed attorney.

In an effort to conserve rail corridors while still allowing rail carriers to discontinue use on unprofitable lines, the U.S. Congress included a unique and prescient provision within the National Trails System Act Amendments of 1983. The Rails to Trails Act allowed the federal government to regulate the disposition of soon-to-be abandoned railroad lines to preserve the right-of-way in case the need for […]

Trails and greenways create opportunities for people of all ages to bicycle, walk, hike and jog. Across the country, trails and greenways are stimulating tourism and recreation spending, and in many rural communities they are seen as a catalyst for economic growth. In providing attractive, safe, accessible, and low- or no-cost places, they also make it easier for people to […]

This checklist for starting your trail project will help you gather information to create a vision for your trail or greenway project. The questions help you identify what type of trail you can create and how you can build support for it.

The need for this report arose from a discussion between CSX Railroad and the City of Philadelphia over safety and liability concerns regarding street-level access to the Schuylkill River Park Trail in Philadelphia.This paper reviews surveys performed by RTC and the U.S. Department of Transportation which found no crashes between trains and trail users on […]

The purpose of this manual is to help you implement a trail user survey and determine the economic impact that your trail has on your community. Four sample survey forms are included in the appendix of this manual.