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magine being able to walk out your

door and have the opportunity

to bike to work, visit world-class

cultural sites, stroll along a wooded

pathway for bird watching, go for a

morning jog or walk with a friend to

Bartram’s Garden, the oldest living

botanical garden in America—all the

while in a safe environment absent of traf-

fic. That vision, shared by many, is becom-

ing a reality, thanks to the concerted efforts

of a group of like-minded individuals in

Pennsylvania and New Jersey committed to

connecting and revitalizing communities.

For the past five years, a web of approxi-

mately 30 multi-use pathways known as

the Circuit Trails

( railstotrails.org/circuit

trails

) has been growing throughout the

Greater Philadelphia area, with long-term

plans to stretch 750 miles across nine coun-

ties (Philadelphia, Chester, Montgomery,

Delaware and Bucks in Pennsylvania;

Burlington, Gloucester, Camden and

Mercer in New Jersey). The aim of the proj-

ect is to strengthen the region by provid-

ing healthy transportation and recreation

opportunities that enhance neighborhoods

and increase access to jobs, community des-

tinations and green space.

Currently at 300 miles, the Circuit Trails

is like no other system in the country—con-

necting urban, suburban and rural commu-

nities in a 2.5-million-acre area. By the time

it is complete, which is expected to be in

2040, more than 50 percent of the region’s

population (about 3,199,450

people) will live within a mile of

the Circuit Trails. Additionally,

the system will connect to the

East Coast Greenway, envelop-

ing a 3,000-mile off-road route

that spans as far north as Calais,

Maine, and as far south as Key

West, Florida.

The trails, which course

along unused rail lines and

old towpaths, as well as

canals, rivers and streams, are

already stimulating econo-

mies. According to a bicycling

and pedestrian safety report

published by the New Jersey

Department of Transportation and the

Federal Highway Administration in 2013,

active-transportation-related infrastructure,

businesses and events were estimated to

have contributed more than $497 million

to the New Jersey economy alone in 2011.

Individual trails in Pennsylvania counties

have long proven to exert a strong economic

impact; for example, a 2009 RTC study of

the Schuylkill River Trail—a major com-

ponent of the Circuit Trails—was found to

have had a direct economic impact of $7.3

million in 2008.

As the Circuit Trails network grows, it

is providing many benefits, ranging from

greater access to services and waterways for

underserved communities, to the creation

of new businesses, to increased opportuni-

ties for healthy lifestyles.

Foundation of an Idea

Leading this massive effort is the Circuit

Trails Coalition, which began as discus-

sions among a small group of individuals

with a shared vision of growth for the

Philadelphia-Camden, New Jersey, region.

It was formally created in 2012 with

initial funding from the William Penn

Foundation. The collaboration has since

ballooned to include some 65 nonprofit

organizations, foundations and agencies.

Those associated with the project are

sensitive to the diversity of populations they

are serving, from urban neighborhoods in

Philadelphia, the fifth-largest U.S. metro-

politan area, to rural areas of Bucks County

and small waterfront neighborhoods in

Camden. And their commitment has been

contagious: Coalition members have raised

tens of millions of dollars in funding and

generated widespread support from local

leaders and residents.

The effort received a big boost in 2010

when the coalition procured a $23 mil-

lion TIGER (Transportation Investment

Generating Economic Recovery) grant from

the U.S. Department of Transportation.

THOM CARROLL

LAURA PEDRICK/AP IMAGES

Camden Greenway (along

the waterfront in New

Jersey) near the Ben

Franklin Bridge leading to

Philadelphia

rails

trails

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