Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is an American nonprofit organization based in
Washington, D.C.
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, that works with communities to preserve unused rail corridors by transforming them into
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
s within the United States. RTC's purpose is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors.
[About Rails-to-Trails Conservancy](_blank)
In addition to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., RTC has smaller offices in California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. RTC receives its funding largely from paid memberships and receives no government funding. As of December 2012, RTC had approximately 80,000 paid members, the remainder of its funding coming from foundation and corporate grants and major donors.
RTC members have developed programs focusing on urban rail trails and trail systems since 2009, including RTC's ''Urban Pathways Initiative'' (UPI), which features ongoing programs in Washington, D.C., Camden, New Jersey, Jacksonville, Florida, Compton, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Cleveland, Ohio, and is funded by
The Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation is a philanthropic private foundation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United States. The foundation works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, enviro ...
.
History
RTC was formed in 1986 by Peter Harnik and David Burwell. The
Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act
The Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, often called the "4R Act," is a United States federal law that established the basic outlines of regulatory reform in the railroad industry and provided transitional operating funds fo ...
of 1976 (known as the 4R Act) included a little-noticed section to provide funding, information exchange and technical assistance in order to preserve these corridors and create public trails. The "railbanking" provisions of this legislation allowed disused railroad corridors to be preserved in public ownership rather than sold and irrevocably dismantled. In addition to the creation of public railtrails, railbanking legislation has also enabled the reactivation of rail service along previously disused corridors.
In August 2000, RTC launched a trail-finder website with maps, photos, reviews and other information on U.S. rail trails, trails and greenways. Since 2000, RTC has used GPS mapping data to provide maps of more than 23,000 miles of trails.
In 2007, RTC began recognizing rail trails with its ''Rail Trail Hall of Fame.''
The first inductees into the Rail Trail Hall of Fame were the
Great Allegheny Passage
The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a rail trail between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cumberland, Maryland. Together with the C&O Canal towpath, the GAP is part of a route between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., that is popular with through ...
, Pennsylvania, the Fred Marquis
Pinellas Trail
The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a rail trail in Pinellas County, Florida. It stretches from Tarpon Springs in the north to St. Petersburg in the south, passing through the towns of Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Belleair, Clearwater, Largo, Seminole, ...
, Florida, and
Katy Trail State Park
The Katy Trail State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Missouri that contains the Katy Trail, the country's longest recreational rail trail. It runs , largely along the northern bank of the Missouri River, in the right-of-way of the f ...
, Missouri. In June, 2012, the
Greenbrier River Trail
The Greenbrier River Trail (GRT), is a lineal state park comprising a rail trail between North Caldwell and Cass in eastern West Virginia.
The GRT route and its contours were originally engineered by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, serving as ...
, West Virginia, was the 26th trail to receive the designation.
See also
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Rails with trails
Rails with trails (RWT) are a small subset of rail trails in which a railway right-of-way remains in use by trains yet also has a parallel recreational trail. Hundreds of kilometers of RWTs exist in Canada, Europe, the United States, and Wester ...
References
External links
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Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.