2002 Report on State Trail Projects

For the Federal Highway Administration by the
Coalition for Recreational Trails

October 30, 2002

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For the Federal Highway Administration by the
Coalition for Recreational Trails
(Order No. DTFH61-02-C-00024, Requisition No. 67-01-1051)

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. The contents of this report reflect the views of the contractor, who is responsible for the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Department of Transportation. This report does not constitute a standard, specification or regulation.

Executive Summary

In 1999, the Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT), working in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), developed a database of State trail projects that had received funding from the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) since the RTP's inception as part of, first, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and, then, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) in 1998. In July 2000, again in cooperation with the FHWA, CRT initiated an update of the database. By late December 2000, reports had been received from 47 States showing that the number of RTP projects had increased 58% to 3,983 while total RTP funding had increased more than 97% to $103.6 million. The States also reported that more than $112 million in additional funding - a 109% increase over the previous total - had been obtained from other sources, including other Federal agencies, as well as State and local governments and trails group. In October 2001, FHWA and CRT entered into a three-year agreement, with the American Recreation Coalition acting as CRT's agent, to continue the database project on a more systematic basis. As part of this most recent effort, a preliminary report was prepared for the FHWA in March 2002, adding 797 projects from 29 States and bringing the total number of projects to 4,780. This October 2002 report updates that information - adding 792 projects in 22 States for a total of 5,572 - and marks the completion of the first year of the three-year agreement. The total RTP funding now reported has reached $160,228,492 and has been matched by $150,555,382 in other funding. The information contained in this latest report has also been compiled into a searchable database that will be accessible on the Internet through the FHWA's Web site (www.fhwa.dot.gov).

According to this latest report, the leading use of RTP funds - 38% - is trail construction or development, which continues the trend observed in earlier reports. The gap between RTP spending on trail construction or development and spending on trail maintenance has widened slightly as 90% more in RTP funds - a difference of $35.5 million - has been directed toward those types of projects, up from 86% in December 2000. Hiking and walking trails continue to attract more funds than other trails, with hiking's share now at 63% (up slightly from 61% in 2000) and walking at 51% (up from 48%). Three quarters of projects can be clearly identified as benefiting motorized and/or nonmotorized trail uses. The ratio of nonmotorized to motorized projects has increased slightly and is now at 2.7:1 versus the 2.6:1 of two years ago.

Each State is allowed to use up to 5% of its RTP funds for educational programs that promote trail-related safety and environmental protection. However, the States continue to focus on other priorities, reporting that less than 2% (90) of their projects were educational. Two years ago, the percentage was similarly low when 56 projects were reported from a total of 3,983.

Background

A Federal assistance program for recreational trail construction, renovation and maintenance was created under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). Under the program, known initially as the National Recreational Trails Funding Program, funds were allocated to all States and the District of Columbia during only three of the legislation's initial six years (a total of $37.5 million) as well as during the transitional period of October 1997 to June 1998.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA-21) amended the program - now known as the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) - most notably by significantly increasing funds apportioned to the States (reaching $50 million annually for the last four of the legislation's six years) and providing contract authority for the program.

The legislation establishes requirements for project eligibility but provides substantial flexibility to the States on project selection. Presently, there is no unified reporting process from the States to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which administers the program, on use of the funds. It should be noted, however, that most States have substantial, though not uniform, information available to the public on use of RTP funds.

The Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT), representing all major national trail interests, has taken an active role in the RTP since its inception and shares FHWA's interest in ensuring that the program is efficient, operates in full compliance with the law, and is understood by all interests. CRT regards it as essential that RTP projects can be identified and evaluated by the Administration, the Congress, and program advocates. The increase in funding for RTP approved as part of TEA-21 demonstrated Congressional support for trails programs, but this support will be sustained only if sufficient accomplishments can be demonstrated. Moreover, FHWA has a need to monitor projects for compliance with statutory direction.

For these reasons, in 1999, CRT worked cooperatively with FHWA and the States to collect initial information on projects funded under RTP since the program's beginning. The data requested included project date, location and description, contact name, amount of RTP funding and other funding, types of trail uses, the Congressional district involved, and project highlights. All the States and the District of Columbia reported information, in varying levels of detail. CRT compiled this information into a database, which it made available to FHWA, trail administrators, and major national trail organizations. A report highlighting key information from the database was prepared and submitted to FHWA. As part of that report, CRT recommended that the data-collection effort be continued.

In July 2000, again in cooperation with FHWA, CRT contacted the States to obtain information on RTP trail projects undertaken since the initial request for data in 1999. By December, 47 states had responded with data on new 1999 and 2000 projects and 16 States provided updated information regarding earlier projects. Arizona, Florida, Ohio and the District of Columbia did not submit information because they had not allocated funding in those years. In October 2001, a new three-year effort to update the database was initiated by CRT under a contract between the FHWA and the American Recreation Coalition. An interim report published in March 2002 included 4,780 projects. That report has been updated and now includes 5,572 projects. As part of the contract, the data from this newest summary report have also been compiled into a searchable database that will be accessible on the Internet through the FHWA's Web site. In addition to reviewing the basic findings summarized in the following tables, those accessing the database on the Internet will be able to search for projects by specific criteria, including State, type of project, type of trail activity and level of project funding.

Database Findings

By October 30, 2002, all the States had updated the data that had been reported in December 2000 regarding their use of Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funds. Total trail project funding reported now includes 2001 projects and totals $160,228,492, an increase of $56,617,990 - or nearly 55% - over the total reported previously for the first eight years of the program. The number of projects reported increased 40% from 3,983 to 5,572. In addition, the States reported that an amount equivalent to almost 94% of the RTP funding level - $150,555,382 - had been provided by other sources, including Federal agencies like the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as States, towns, counties, and trail clubs like mountain biking groups, equestrian councils, and snowmobiler associations. This total represents an increase of $38,509,391 - 34% - over the amount of other funding reported previously. The projects identified as new in the chart below reflect data that have been updated since the December 2000 report.

RTP Database Projects and Funding Statistics 1993 - 2001

The trail projects reported were varied and included: building new trails and adding trail connections; building restrooms; providing water fountains; developing and implementing educational programs; maintaining trails, resurfacing trails treads; providing accessibility for mobility-impaired persons; and more. The following table represents a categorization of the different projects reported. The percentages shown reflect the percentage of all projects that reported trail project descriptions. The leading use of funds, by a substantial margin, in both the current and previous reports was trail construction or development, followed by bridge construction or renovation, sign purchase or installation, trail maintenance, and trail renovation or relocation. The percentages reported for each category did not change markedly, with the exception of trail construction or development, which showed an increase from 32% to 38%. A new category, land acquisition (2%), was added to the 2002 report.

A broader definition of trail maintenance was used for the following table, which includes projects reported as renovations, improvements and grooming, as well as maintenance. The 1,476 projects reported (representing a 77% increase over the 2000 report) with those descriptions accounted for $39.3 million in RTP funding (up 52%) and another $35.9 million in matching funding (up 39%).

RTP Database Maintenance Project Funding Summary 1993-2001

Includes maintenance, improvements, renovations and grooming.

While the quantity of projects incorporating trail construction versus trail maintenance is some 27% higher (1,878 vs. 1,476), the total amount of funding for trail construction is more than double the amount used for trail maintenance funding. As would be expected, the average per-project cost for construction projects is markedly higher than for maintenance projects: $81,095 vs. $50,916. However, since the 2000 report, the per-project costs for both construction and maintenance have decreased by 32% and 18% respectively.

RTP Database Construction Project Funding Summary 1993-2001

Trail users on trails that received RTP funding represented every category of trail-related recreation although data on trail use were not reported for all projects. The table that follows displays those categories. Hiking and walking have been the dominant trail uses reported since the data-collection project was initiated.

RTP Database Trail Use Categories

As shown by the following two tables, 3,068 of the reported projects can be clearly identified as benefiting nonmotorized trail uses and 1,142 as benefiting motorized trail uses. While there is some overlap where projects accommodate both motorized and nonmotorized trail uses, the trend favoring the expenditure of RTP funds for nonmotorized trail uses is very clear. The average per-project cost of projects benefiting nonmotorized trail use is also higher than for projects identified as motorized: $67,436 vs. $59,898. Although per-project costs have risen slightly since the 2000 report (less than 2%), the spread between them has stayed roughly the same, $7,538 currently versus $7,280 in the 2000 report.

RTP Database Nonmotorized Trail Project Funding Summary 1993-2001

RTP Database Motorized Trail Project Funding Summary 1993-2001

A State is allowed to use up to 5% of its RTP funds for educational programs that promote trail-related safety and environmental protection. Only 90 such programs have been reported by 26 States. Those programs used $1,801,555 in RTP funds and an additional $3,091,258 in other funding, bringing the per-program cost to $54,365. However, if substantial spending on three programs in California and four programs in Vermont is eliminated, the per-program cost drops to $34,219. Measured either way, the per-program costs have increased, by nearly 48% overall, or if the California and Vermont projects are eliminated, by more than 16% since 2000.

RTP Database Education Project Funding Summary 1993-2001