Trail advocates outline the benefits of building out the region’s trail network
Biking and jogging on the W&OD Trail, Vienna, Virginia by Daniel Kelly licensed under Creative Commons.
On Wednesday the Capital Trails Coalition released a report coming to a shocking conclusion: trails are good, actually.
Prepared by ESI Solutions and published by the coalition of organizations such as the Washington Area Bicyclists Association and the Rails to Trails Conservancy, the report outlines and quantifies the economic, health, and environmental benefits of completing the network.
According to the report, not only is the region growing and widely supportive of trails, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also sent demand skyrocketing — and 53% of those surveyed by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments said they expect to walk more post-pandemic.
A map of the Capitl Trails Network from the Captial Trails Coalition report. 
Building out the trail network envisioned by the Capital Trails Coalition would nearly double the trail mileage in the region. The vast majority of trails planned but not yet built are in Prince George’s County: finishing the network would bring the county 242 miles of trails.
The final 402 miles would take a $1.09 billion investment; according to the report, that investment could yield more than $1 billion in economic benefits to the region and more than $2 billion in savings.
The network could also curb carbon emissions and encourage active transportation, the report says, noting the safety benefits of creating more space for walkers and bicyclists to travel while separated from car traffic.
One of the primary ways trails would economically benefit the region, according to the report, is also a notable risk: rising property values in areas surrounding new trail projects, which could lead to displacement of existing residents and housing affordability concerns.
“An important consideration in ensuring this change is beneficial and not detrimental to existing residents is engaging and empowering those residents from the very beginning of the planning process,” the report says. Some of the ways the report recommends preventing displacement include expanding rent supplement programs, tax abatements, a Community Land Trust, and inclusionary zoning.
The report comes as the Capital Trails Coalition joins a push for more federal funding for trail infrastructure in Congress. That bill, the Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act, would fund $500 million per year in competitive grants over five years to build out active transportation networks.