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the Safe Routes to School Program and
the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot
Program, both of which helped to cre-
ate and promote safe biking and walking
infrastructure for children and adults.
The major victories in 2003 and 2005
did not mean the battle for trail funding
was over, however. RTC would go on to
fight for trail funding in 2007, 2012 and
2015—and today, advocacy remains a
core focus of the organization’s activities.
The Future Starts Now
“We started with a focus on building
individual trails. But now that more than
22,000 miles of rail-trail stretches across
the American landscape, it’s time to focus
on how we connect individual trails into
seamless trail systems,” says Laughlin.
An important example is the
Baltimore Greenway Trails Network, a
35-mile loop development project that
RTC is leading in collaboration with local
partners. When complete, the project
will link urban trails to neighborhoods,
transit, employment centers, Baltimore’s
popular “Inner Harbor” and prominent
city parks
(featured in Eye On, p. 4)
.
“It’s a smaller regional project serving
an urban population—including many
underserved communities—and it can
serve as a model for other similar projects
around the country,” says Laughlin.
RTC also has taken a leadership role
in larger regional projects, including the
Circuit—a 750-mile trail system in the
Greater Philadelphia/Camden Area
(read
more in this issue’s Cover Story, p. 12)
; the
Route of the Badger, a 400-500 mile trail
system in Southeastern Wisconsin con-
necting rural and urban communities;
and the Bay Area Trails Collaborative, a
partnership of 40-plus organizations that
are seeking ways to unite their trails into
a 1,000-mile network.
Perhaps the largest trail development
project on RTC’s leadership agenda is
the Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition,
which is creating a regional trail net-
work through 48 counties in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New
York. When complete, the Industrial
Heartland Trails will span more than
1,450 miles.
Laughlin mentions one final project—
T-MAP (Trail Modeling and Assessment
Platform)—which is not a system, but
YEARS
February
RTC takes a lead
role in
the Circuit
Trails Coalition
,
which is creating
a 750-mile multi-
use trail network in
Greater Philadelphia.
March
RTC launches
Opening
Day for Trails.
l
l
2009
2012
May
RTC launches the
Urban Pathways
Initiative
, in which 25 U.S. cities are
connected for the sharing of best
practices in trail promotion and access.
June
RTC donates more than 12,000 miles
of trail map data to the
Google Biking
Directions
project.
COURTESY RTC
RTC/BARRY BERGMAN
LAURA PEDRICK/AP IMAGES
Met Branch Trail in
Washington, D.C.
Opening Day for Trails 2015
in Concord, California
rails
to
trails
u
spring/summer.16
10