Private Sector Sources

Just as the use of public transportation funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects has been on the increase throughout the 1990's, private sector funding has become more plentiful. Private funding has spawned a widespread movement of local non-profit organizations, many of whom have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the planning and construction of their particular trail project or system. Moreover, the environmental land trust movement has mushroomed in the past twenty years and many of these organizations have raised funds for purchase of land where trails are built, especially rail-trails.

Here are some examples of private sector funding sources:

1. In Evansville, Indiana a boardwalk is being built with Corporate donations from Indiana Power and Light Co. and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
2. In Arizona, trail directional and interpretive signs are being provided by the Salt River Project a local utility. Other corporate sponsors of the Arizona Trail are the Hughes Missile Systems, BHP Cooper and Pace American, Inc.
3. The Kodak Company now supports the American Greenways Awards program of The Conservation Fund, which was started in partnership with the Dupont company. This annual awards program provides grants of up to $2500 to local greenway projects for any activities related to greenway advocacy, planning, design or development.

Some communities have combined multiple funding sources to support bicycle and pedestrian projects. Here are some examples of  creative partnerships:

• In Ashtabula, Ohio the local trail organization raised one-third of the money they needed to buy the land for the trail, by forming a "300 Club." Three hundred acres were needed for the trail and they set a goal of finding 300 folks who would finance one acre each. The land price was $400 an acre, and they found just over 100 people to buy an honorary acre, raising over $40,000.
• In Jackson County, Oregon they had a "Yard Sale." The Bear Creek Greenway Foundation sold symbolic "yards" of the trail and placed donor's names on permanent markers that are located at each trailhead. At $40 a yard, they raised enough in private cash donations to help match their $690,000 Transportation Enhancements program award for the 18-mile Bear Creek trail linking Medford, Talent, Phoenix and Ashland.
• Selling bricks for local sidewalk projects, especially those in historic areas or on downtown Main Streets, is increasingly common. Donor names are engraved in each brick, and a tremendous amount of publicity and community support is purchased along with basic construction materials. Portland, Oregon's downtown Pioneer Square is a good example of such a project.
• In Colorado Springs, the Rock Island Rail-Trail is being partly funded by the Rustic Hills Improvement Association, a group of local home-owners living adjacent to the trail. Also, ten miles of the trail was cleared of railroad ties by a local boy scout troop.