RTC in Action Page 2

Bicycle riders enjoying a new section of the Miners Ravine Trail in Roseville, California | Courtesy City of Roseville

As California ATP Cycle 5 Kicks Off—Here's a Snapshot of Some Success Stories

Posted 04/08/20 by Laura Cohen, Ben Kaufman, Mary Elise Conzelmann in Building Trails | Tagged with BATC, California, Connected Systems, Funding, RTC in Action, TrailNation

On March 26, California released a call for projects for the next round of the Active Transportation Program (ATP)—the state’s largest single source of funding for trails and walking and biking projects.

Recently completed Cohas section of the Londonderry Rail Trail | Courtesy Londonderry Trailways

New Hampshire’s Londonderry Rail Trail

Posted 04/06/20 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Federal, Funding, Local Organizing, Maintenance and Volunteers, New Hampshire, RTC in Action, State and Federal Programs, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

About a 45-mile drive northwest of Boston, the Londonderry Rail Trail in the quaint southern New Hampshire town of Londonderry offers locals a slice of tranquility in an otherwise upside-down world with a 4.5-mile jaunt through verdant forests and wildlife-rich wetlands and along scenic ponds.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Joe LaCroix mapping the West Creek Recreational Trail | Photo by Anthony Le, courtesy RTC

Dynamic Duo: How TrailLink and Google Maps Have Made Trails Accessible to America

Posted 03/09/20 by Ryan Chao in America's Trails | Tagged with Encouraging Trail Use, Mapping and Technology, RTC in Action

Google has helped direct millions of people to TrailLink to access all the health and wellness benefits trails provide. Since 2008, usage has grown from several hundred thousand people to more than 7 million annually who choose TrailLink as their go-to source for finding and using trails.

Andrea Ferster | Photo by Eli Griffen

Rail-Trail Cases That Have Shaped the Movement

Posted 02/20/20 by Amy Kapp in Building Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Corridors and Railbanking, Featured Magazine Articles, Legal Issues, RTC in Action

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the National Trails System Act (1968), Rails to Trails magazine sat down with Ferster to talk about some of the cases that have shaped the movement—as well as the monumental importance of railbanking, which—born from the National Trails System Act in 1983—has helped facilitate the creation of thousands of miles of rail-trails to date.

Thermal Belt Rail Trail bridge over Highway 74 | Photo by Dana Bradley

North Carolina’s Thermal Belt Rail Trail

Posted 02/11/20 by Cindy Barks in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Best Of, Funding, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, North Carolina, RTC in Action, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

Today, the 13.58-mile Thermal Belt Rail Trail lies where the old Southern Railroad, and later the Thermal Belt Railway, once ran. The trail has been a boon for Rutherford County on a number of levels.

Rock Island Spur of Katy Trail State Park in Missouri | Photo by TrailLink user chia57

RTC’s 2020 Doppelt Trail Fund Helps Fill Critical Funding, Gaps in Six Communities

Posted 02/03/20 by Mary Ellen Koontz in Building Trails | Tagged with Florida, Funding, Louisiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rock Island, RTC in Action

Today, in anticipation of the 2020 spring trail season, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) announced the recipients of the 2020 Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund grant program, awarding a total of $100,000 to six impactful trail projects across the United States.

Connectivity Evolution: Examining a Decade of Rails-to-Trails’ Impact, 2010–2020

Posted 12/31/19 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Success Stories, Policy, Building Trails | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Capital Trails Coalition, Caracara, Circuit Trails, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Great American Rail-Trail, History Happened Here, IHTC, Miami LOOP, Recreational Trails Program, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Transportation Alternatives, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

Here’s a look at RTC and a decade of rail-trails—their power and their impact. As the 2010s built momentum, opportunities to maximize the power of these essential community assets became clear, and a new focus took hold at RTC and across the movement: that of regional connectivity and, ultimately, connecting the country by trail like never before. Check out RTC's connectivity evolution over the past decade.

Great American Rail-Trail preferred route reveal in South Cle Elum, Washington | Photo by Kathy Young

Seven Ways Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Brought Big Impact in 2019

Posted 12/05/19 by Amy Kapp in Success Stories, America's Trails | Tagged with BATC, Circuit Trails, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Recreational Trails Program, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Transportation Alternatives

This year, America and the rail-trail movement saw giant leaps, and small-but-no-less-important bounds, that have helped to achieve RTC’s goal of connecting the country by trail like never before. From major advancements like the launch of the 3,700-mile Great American Rail-Trail, to critical regional and local successes that have delivered new opportunities for mobility, active transportation and economic investment, the impact is being felt in communities of all shapes and sizes across the United States.

Keith Laughlin riding Caracara Trails | Photo courtesy RTC

Former Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin Named 2019 Rail-Trail Champion

Posted 12/02/19 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Connected Systems, Great American Rail-Trail, RTC in Action, TrailNation, Transportation Alternatives

Former Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin Named 2019 Rail-Trail Champion. When Keith Laughlin became the second president of RTC in 2001, he did not envision he’d help usher in a golden age for trails.

GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail in South Carolina | Photo by Ian Curcio

A Q&A With Ryan Chao: Connecting Communities from Coast to Coast

Posted 11/13/19 by Brandi Horton, Ryan Chao in America's Trails, Taking Action | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, Connected Systems, Great American Rail-Trail, IHTC, RTC in Action, Tourism and Economic Development, TrailsTransform, Transportation and Health, West Virginia

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is forging ahead with a new focus: to connect critical walking and bicycling infrastructure across the country, and demonstrate the powerful benefits trails and trail networks deliver communities, through projects such as RTC’s TrailNation™ initiative and the Great American Rail-Trail™. Recently, the Trailblog chatted with RTC President Ryan Chao on how the organization is making this work happen in collaboration with thousands of partners across the country.

Facatativá to Puerto Salgar rail-trail project corridor field visit | Photo courtesy RTC

RTC Brings TrailNation Vision to President Duque of Colombia

Posted 10/11/19 by Liz Thorstensen in Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Demand for Trails, Heritage and Restoration, RTC in Action, Rural Communities, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trails of the World, Urban Pathways

RTC was invited to Bogotá, Colombia by the city’s renowned Mayor Enrique Peñalosa to lend our assistance in the planning of the country’s first rail-trail project, just outside of Bogotá, culminating with a presentation to Colombia President Iván Duque Márquez.