Trail Blog by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Photo © Rails-to-Trails-Conservancy/Jake Lynch

RTC Responds to Misleading Report on Bicycle Fatalities

Posted 11/03/14 by Kevin Mills in Trail Use, Policy | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Facts and FIgures, Safety and Law Enforcement

Over the past few days Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has been working with the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking and Walking to respond to a number of troubling media reports about bicycling fatalities.

Photo © Rachel Napear/Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau

Bikeway Brings Global Attention to Boston

Posted 10/28/14 by Orhan Belding in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Massachusetts, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Destinations

In September, RTC heard from one of our friends at the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau in Massachusetts. They were seeking to roll out the red carpet for a travel writer from the U.K. on a mission to experience Boston by bicycle. It was a unique chance to promote The Hub's world-class trail network, and recognition that local officials taking cycle-tourism seriously.

Meet Mike Helbing—New Jersey Native, Urban Explorer, Lifetime Hiker

Posted 10/10/14 by Katie Harris in Trail Use | Tagged with Health and Active Living, New Jersey

The description “avid outdoorsman” doesn’t do Mike Helbing justice. Helbing has been leading hiking expeditions for nearly two decades, exploring his home state of New Jersey and the surrounding regions—but these are no ordinary excursions. Every Sunday, a group of intrepid adventurers sets out on a trek of 15 to 20 miles, exploring a different part of New Jersey or the surrounding area.

Matters of Mobility: Adaptive Bicyclists in Pennsylvania Embrace Trails

Posted 09/18/14 by Katie Harris in Health and Wellness, Trail Use | Tagged with Pennsylvania, Schools and Young People, Why Use Trails?

For the past two years, the Pittsburgh, Pa.-based nonprofit, Variety the Children’s Charity, has been running “My Bike,” an initiative that provides customized, adaptive bicycles to children with disabilities.

Photo of Mae and David Nagel © David Nagel

Great Adventures on the GAP: Memoirs of an 11-Year-Old Bicyclist

Posted 09/09/14 by Mae Nagel in Trail Use | Tagged with Pennsylvania, Schools and Young People, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Communities

We want to extend a special thank you to Mae Nagel and her father David for this very heartfelt and very candid peak at their recent bike trip through part of the Great Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania!

Canal Towns Program Plugs Businesses into the Enormous Potential of Trail Tourism

Posted 09/01/14 by Jake Lynch in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities

In 2007, The Progress Fund launched the Trail Towns program, designed specifically to help communities along the GAP convert their terrific location into sustainable economic activity.

All photos courtesy Columbia Parks and Recreation

Ties That Bind: A New Trail System Is Creating—and Strengthening—Connections in Columbia, Mo.

Posted 08/26/14 by Katie Harris in Building Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Connected Systems, Missouri, Products of Good Policy, State and Federal Programs

Columbia, Mo., is a city with a few tricks up its sleeve. Its charm starts slowly, unassumingly, disguised as just another Midwestern college town, but after spending some time there, exploring the tree-lined streets by foot or riding part of the trail system, you may just become hooked. And you wouldn’t be the first to fall under Columbia’s charismatic spell.

Photo CC Gottfried not Bouillon via Flickr

Building Trails, Building Lives: Kids Are Connecting in Sheboygan, Wis.

Posted 08/19/14 by Katie Harris in Trail Use | Tagged with Products of Good Policy, Schools and Young People, State and Federal Programs, Wisconsin

For school kids in Sheboygan, Wis., trails are about connections. And thanks to the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program, a nearby trail, completed in the fall of 2013, provides connections of all kinds.

Elly Blue: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy

Posted 08/07/14 by Katie Harris in Success Stories, Trail Use | Tagged with Case Studies, Demand for Trails, Facts and FIgures, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

Recently, I caught up with Blue to talk about her book, investments in bike infrastructure and equity within the bicycling world.

By Rail and Trail: SunRail Service Opens a Whole New World on Florida's East Coast

Posted 08/05/14 by Jake Lynch in Trail Use | Tagged with Connected Systems, Florida, Rail-with-Trail, Tourism and Economic Stimulus

2014 has already been a huge year for trails in Florida, with funding secured for the Coast-to-Coast Connector project, the All Aboard Florida rail-with-trail proposal building steam and locals beating back a number of political threats to active transportation.

In Minneapolis, You're Never Too Old to Learn to Ride

Posted 08/05/14 by Katie Harris in Trail Use | Tagged with Equity, Health and Active Living, Minnesota, Products of Good Policy, State and Federal Programs

You’re a grown adult, but you’ve never learned how to ride a bike. Where do you even start? If you’re in Minneapolis, Minn., SPOKES Bike Walk Connect can help.

Jay Walljasper: Why Trails Are America's New Town Squares

Posted 07/29/14 by Jay Walljasper in Trail Use | Tagged with Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Communities, Urban Pathways

For harried 21st Century commuters, who spend long hours in cars or buses each week, driving seems too reminiscent of work. On evenings and weekends, they want to take off on bikes, skates, longboards or their own two feet. That’s why communities are now busy creating new trails and greenways across America and throughout the world.

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