Benefits of Greenways

Numerous studies across the nation and the success of greenway projects in many different communities throughout the country prove that greenways offer a variety of potential benefits.  Certainly, not all of the advertised benefits will be maximized in every greenway example because the character of each trail and its community is always a bit different. Depending on the vision of the community, a trail might focus heavily on one aspect or another while other trail projects might try to incorporate and balance as many different benefits as possible.

According to the Virginia Greenways and Trails Toolbox (October 2000), “Recreation is the primary justification and benefit expected from a new trail,” although conservation is often mentioned as a primary reason/benefit as well. Even though there are a number of examples showing the significant transportation and economic benefits of urban greenways, these benefits are often less noticeable community-wide. A “destination trail” (one which is considered the key or one of the key features attracting people to a city) can be expected to have more economic influence on the community; the Virginia Creeper Trail is considered a destination trail.  Nonetheless, evaluated as a group, greenways are known to have the following positive impacts:

• Recreation, Health, and Sense of Community
  • Offers safe, attractive, and exciting areas to have fun walking, jogging, biking, skating, etc.
  • Increased recreation leads to increased physical wellness (and mental health for the elderly)
  • Provides an activity for families to do together
  • Provides additional places to socialize and meet people in the community
• Conservation
  • Protects open spaces, wildlife habitat, unique views, and important natural features (stream, mountain, etc.) by preserving land and requiring different development guidelines in trail areas
  • Gives people another place to learn about the natural environment which can in turn create attitudes to protect it
  • Preserves historic areas and structures through increased visibility and awareness
• Transportation
  • Reduce present and future traffic congestion and pollution by connecting activity centers and populated areas thus replacing some short auto trips with foot, bicycle, and other travel (children to school, adults running errands)
• Economics
  • Attract visitors and new residents to the community
  • Guide visitors and residents to key economic areas within the city
  • Give more incentive for existing residents to stay in the community (to live and to spend recreation time/money)
  • Increase the visibility and customer traffic for businesses (especially food, lodging, recreation) and attractions along the trail
  • Increase property values for homes and businesses near the trail resulting in higher property tax revenue

W&OD Trail Study (2004)

In December 2004 the Virginia Department of Conservation released a report entitled The Washington & Old Dominion Trail: An Assessment of User Demographics, Preferences, and Economics. The May 2003 – April 2004 data studied was from 1,426 adult trail user surveys completed at eight locations spread along the length of the W&OD. Some of the key findings are reported below and give possible indications of the role the Staunton Frontier Trail might play in its community.

Of the W&OD trail’s estimated 1.7 million total annual visits by adults (age 16 and up) an overwhelming 95% are made by local residents (living within the three county / three city area in the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority district surrounding the trail). These local users make about 120 annual visits to the trail - nearly one visit every three days. About 45% of all trail visits are during the summer and about 40% are on weekends or holidays. The typical user is white (85% of total), is between the ages of 36-55 (56%), and has an income of about $99,000 (well above the median – even for Northern Virginia). Over half of all visits (57%) are made by lone users, thus explaining the estimated 1.7 average visitor group size.

For 26% of local trail users, getting to the trail is as easy as walking out their back door. This shows how important proximity and convenience are to trail usage. The locals who do not live adjacent to the facility travel an average of ten miles (14 minutes) one way to use the trail.  Non-locals, though a very small group, travel an average of 33 miles to get to the trail. For all visitors, the modes of travel used to reach the trail break down as follows: 44% automobile, 38% bike, 15% walk, 3% other.

Once on the W&OD, local users stay an average of two hours and travel about 19 trail miles while non-locals stay for 3.4 hours and average about 33 trail miles. Bicycling accounts for 66% of trail activity and nearly a third of visitors (32%) use the trail for walking or jogging. As might easily be assumed, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents (91%) said that physical recreation/fitness/training was the reason for their visit. About 6% said they were using the trail to commute.  When asked to rank the importance of seven potential benefits of trail usage, visitors’ top three selections were: #1 health, #2 safe place for family/elderly/children to recreate, #3 enjoyment of nature.

Many factors and assumptions are involved, but this study calculates the potential local economic benefit of the W&OD trail in two ways: direct trail user spending in the local economy, and the consumer surplus calculation. Because spending from sources outside an economy’s area has the greatest impact on economic growth, non-local visitor purchases are the focus of the direct spending analysis. Unfortunately, even though non-locals spend an average of $74 per person per visit on eating out, lodging, groceries, and gas, their impact on the trail’s local economy is unnoticeable because of the low percentage of non-local visitors. Annually, the average local trail user spends about $375 directly related to trail use. Though some of this trail-related spending might have been spent locally even in the absence of the trail, some might have leaked out of the local economy into surrounding jurisdictions. In this sense, the trail is helping its local economy compete with the neighboring jurisdictions.

Because there is no fee charged for trail access, this study uses a consumer surplus model to calculate the trail’s estimated economic value/benefit to the public – similar to a market price.  The model is based on several variables including the direct cost of traveling to get to the trail, the opportunity cost of the time required to get to the trail, and the cost of visiting a different site. This method reports a consumer surplus of $9 - $14 per W&OD trail user per visit which means that trail access translates into an estimated $14 million - $22 million net annual perceived value to the local community. A model such as this cannot completely quantify the benefits of enjoying the outdoors, having a safe place to exercise, and connecting key locations, but it does give some sense of the value an amenity adds to a community.

The Staunton Frontier Trail’s usage and impact certainly cannot be expected to mirror that of the W&OD. Staunton is much different than Northern Virginia in many ways, and the scale of the two projects will be different. However, the W&OD study can still be quite instructive to Staunton because the Frontier Trail project is also an urban multi-use trail to be designed with many of the same W&OD functions in mind. Most likely, Staunton’s trail by itself will not be a destination attraction drawing people to the city on its own, but as part of a regional Central Shenandoah Valley trail network, it may take on more of the “destination” trail role with the added economic benefits.