Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
The Audacious Idea to Connect America With Trails Is More Necessary Now Than Ever
Seattle's bike blogger takes a ride on some of Washington's best rail trails — and makes the case for extending the "Great American Rail Trail" across the country.
October 15, 2025
The Shocking Untold History of America’s Rails-to-Trails Movement
Some of the fiercest battles for the future of public space in America have happened on abandoned railway corridors — and the battles aren't over yet.
October 7, 2025
Everyone to Congress: Stand Up and Fight for the Infrastructure Funding You Allocated (And Your Constituents Need)
"The president has made it clear that programs outside the administration’s narrow vision for transportation will not be faithfully implemented," advocates said this week — and it's time for congress to stand up and defend their will.
September 25, 2025
Op Ed: Pragmatic Optimism In the Face of Active Transportation Clawbacks
In the face of mounting attacks on federal funding for biking and walking, a top nonprofit is urging advocates to stay in the fight.
July 24, 2025
Great Trails Are America’s Secret Weapon to Treat Trauma; Will Congress Fund Them?
Why a team of veterans are cycling across America to process their wartime experiences, and raise awareness about the need to fund the paths they're riding on.
May 15, 2024
This Year’s RAISE Grants Will Help Disadvantaged Communities
A huge share of one of DOT's most important discretionary grant program's funds will go to communities that were historically harmed by transportation investments.
June 29, 2023
Federal Funding Bill Contains $45M for New Active Transportation Program
That great news was soured slightly, though, by the very small dollar figure attached to it.
December 22, 2022
An Interstate Across America — For Everyone Besides Drivers, That Is — Would Pay For Itself in No Time
A continuous cross-continental active transportation trail would pay for itself in less than five years in visitor spending alone, a new analysis argues — and it could have a big impact on the car-free transportation landscape in the communities it runs through, too.
May 19, 2022
Advocates Hope ‘Inspired’ RAISE Grants are a Taste of Things To Come
Last Friday, the U.S. DOT wowed sustainable transportation advocates with its list of grantees for the RAISE discretionary grant program, which will funnel $1 billion dollars into transportation capital and planning projects across America — and stoked optimism for how the agency would spend the historic $100 billion in discretionary funding it just won with the passage of the latest infrastructure bill.
November 23, 2021
REPORT: Federal Recreational Trails Program Underfunded by $200M+ Per Year
Gas taxes on off-road recreational vehicles alone brings in over three times more federal revenue annually than the program that builds the trails they ride on receives in return, a new federal study finds — and its time to change that.
August 3, 2021
