2004 Report on State Trail Projects

For the Federal Highway Administration by the
Coalition for Recreational Trails

May 14, 2004

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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 program's inception. The RTP was first part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), and then part of 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. 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, reports were prepared for the FHWA in March 2002 and October 2002. This May 2004 report updates those previous reports, adding 1,079 projects reported for 2002 by 48 States, plus the District of Columbia, bringing the total to 6,650 projects. Additionally, in the Summer and Fall of 2003, CRT requested that the States update their past submissions to the database, to ensure that the database accurately reflects the actual use of RTP funding. Twenty-one States and the District of Columbia responded with updated information for prior years' projects. For this reason, the numbers of projects and amounts of funding from previous years cited in this report differ from those numbers given in previous reports. The total RTP funding now reported has reached $201,745,119 and has been matched by $188,806,495 in other funding. The information contained in this latest report has also been compiled into a searchable database that is accessible on the Internet at www.funoutdoors.info/rtphome.html.

According to this latest report, the leading use of RTP funds - 42% - 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 increased, as 73% more in RTP funds - a difference of $46.6 million - has been directed toward those types of projects, up slightly from a 71% gap in 2001. Hiking and walking trails continue to be the focus of more projects than other trails, with hiking's share now at 61% (down from 62% in 2001) and walking at 53% (no change from 2001). Sixty-six percent of projects can be clearly identified as benefiting motorized and/or nonmotorized trail uses. The ratio of nonmotorized to motorized projects is virtually unchanged at 2.7:1.

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 3% (205) of their projects were educational. For projects reported through 2001, the percentage was similarly low when 154 projects were reported from a total of 5,571.

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. Reports published in March and October 2002 included 4,780 and 5,572 projects, respectively. As part of the contract, beginning with the October 2002 report, data have also been compiled into a searchable database that is accessible on the Internet at http://www.funoutdoors.info/rtphome.html. In addition to reviewing the basic findings summarized in the following tables, those accessing the database on the Internet can search for projects by specific criteria, including State, type of project, type of trail activity and level of project funding.

In the Spring of 2003, CRT again contacted the States to obtain information on RTP projects undertaken in 2002. Additionally, CRT requested that the States submit corrections for past projects that had been altered (e.g., funding amounts changed, project cancelled) since the project information was originally submitted to CRT. In November 2003, CRT made available a Web-based system allowing States to view and edit their projects' records in the database. Twenty-one States and the District of Columbia made use of this system to update their RTP project records. Because of these updated records, numbers of projects and RTP funding amounts for previous years (1993-2001) do not match those numbers presented in previous versions of this report.

Database Findings

By December 31, 2003, 48 States and the District of Columbia had submitted data regarding their use of Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funds in 2002. Only South Carolina and South Dakota have not submitted data for 2002. Additionally, 21 States and the District of Columbia updated previously submitted data for projects in 1993-2001. Total trail project funding reported now includes 2002 projects and totals $201,745,119, an increase of $38,214,018 over the total reported for the first nine years of the program. The number of projects reported increased from 5,571 to 6,650. In addition, the States reported that an amount equivalent to almost 94% of the RTP funding level - $188,806,495 - had been provided by other sources, including Federal agencies (e.g., the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management), States, towns, counties, and trail clubs (e.g., mountain biking groups, equestrian councils, and snowmobiler associations).

RTP Database Projects and Funding 1993 - 2002

* Data revisions pending

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. The percentages reported for each category did not change markedly.

RTP Database Trail Project Work by Project Category 1993 - 2002

For 5446 Projects that Reported Project Descriptions

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 2,334 projects reported with those descriptions accounted for $64 million in RTP funding and another $60 million in matching funding.

RTP Database Maintenance Project Funding 1993 - 2002

Including Maintenance, Improvement, Renovation and Grooming Projects

While the quantity of projects incorporating trail construction versus trail maintenance is 17% higher (2,741 vs. 2,334), the total amount of funding for trail construction is 76% higher than 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: $79,832 vs. $53,299. Since 2001, the per-project average costs for both construction and maintenance projects have increased slightly, from $77,442 and $52,109, respectively.

RTP Database Construction Project Funding 1993 - 2002

Including Trail Construction and Bridge Construction & Renovation

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 1993 - 2002

For 4,373 Projects with Reported Trail Uses

As shown by the following two tables, 3,618 of the reported projects can be clearly identified as benefiting nonmotorized trail uses and 1,332 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: $68,884 vs. $60,666. The per-project average costs have changed slightly since 2001 (from $68,677 and $58,930, respectively), and the spread between them has decreased, $8,218 currently versus $9,747.

RTP Database Nonmotorized Trail Project Funding 1993-2002

RTP Database Motorized Trail Project Funding 1993-2002

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 205 such programs have been reported by 33 States. Those programs used $5,374,410 in RTP funds and an additional $7,955,811 in other funding, bringing the per-project average cost to $65,025.

RTP Database Education Project Funding 1993-2002