Gulf Coast Trail is
Nurtured By Strong Marketing Program
An Urban Parks Institute Success Story
Pinellas County, Florida
The Pinellas Trail, a 47-mile rail-to-trail greenway in Pinellas County, Florida, attracts more than 1 million visitors a year. The trail came into being due in large part to a marketing and promotional effort by an advocacy group that lobbied county officials, raised community consciousness, and developed fundraising strategies before trail construction was approved.
Project Background
In 1986 the Florida Department of Transportation acquired 35 miles of a recently abandoned rail corridor that ran through small beachfront towns and communities, as well as larger cities such as Clearwater and St. Petersburg, in Pinellas County on Florida's Gulf Coast. The county commissioners originally thought they might develop the corridor into a
monorail, or some other form of mass transportation.
A coalition of bicycling and safety advocates which called itself Pinellas
Trails, Inc. was created to convince the county that they needed a trail. Working with the support of
the county's Bicycle Advisory Committee, they put together a large
promotional plan
with two major components. The first was to bring in a public relations
consultant to
manage the initial stages of the promotional campaign. The key functions of this
position
included: developing a logo, a professional, high quality brochure, and an
ongoing
newsletter that would be attractive to all types of trail users; preparing
paperwork for
non-profit status; and identifying volunteer board members who would offer the
needed
skills for trail implementation as well as a diverse usership. Basically, the
consultant
was responsible for getting "the ball rolling" on the marketing plan
outlined by
the coalition. The second component involved raising over $200,000 from donors
to spend on
amenities on the trail. The trail concept quickly took seed in the county, which
had a
high bicycle accident rate. Highlights of the plan included:
- Soliciting approximately 100 businesses for initial funds to develop
the promotional plan. For example, a breakfast meeting was held with a slide
presentation where local businesses were asked to support the trail;
- Focusing long range membership drives on a broader range of special
interest groups such as environmentalists and other recreational groups. By the first annual meeting in September 1989, there were approximately 1,500 paid memberships and $102,400;
- Developing a strong relationship with the media;
- Holding special events on the trail such as walk-a-thons and running
races, which were critical in maintaining community interest in the trail;
- Creating a speaker's bureau which offered free presentations and
discussions. Over a three year period more than 100 presentations were given by
volunteers.
Through the leadership of the county administrator, who became a trail
supporter, the county commissioners began to warm to the trail concept. They were impressed with the community support garnered by Pinellas Trails, Inc., and they realized that it was a cost-effective alternative to the rail proposal. Additionally, new statistics showed bicycle injuries in the county were among the highest in the country. In 1991, Pinellas Trails, Inc. helped the county promote a controversial one-cent sales tax increase aimed
at major infrastructure improvements. The coalition received an assurance that
if the
measure passed, the board would allocate $5 million (about .5% of the money the
tax would
raise) toward the trail. Pinellas Trails, Inc. put all its effort into linking
the idea of
the tax and the trail together in residents minds. The tax passed in
November by a
narrow margin, and construction on the trail began shortly thereafter.
Impacts: Over one million people use the trail every year. The trail
has
significantly stabilized the retail environment in some smaller towns that the
trail runs
through, and it has raised the value of property adjacent to or near the trail.
Additionally, there has been support from local businesses and citizens who have
contributed water fountains, landscaping, benches and other amenities. A renewal
of the
"Penny for Pinellas" tax was passed in late March, 1997 by an
overwhelming
margin.
Today, the structure of the Pinellas Trails, Inc. remains the same, although
its
activities have changed due to the completion of the trail system. According to
Scott
Daniels, president of Pinellas Trails, Inc., their role is to ensure responsible
trail
planning for all participants. For the past two years, membership dues have not
been
collected because there is no need for additional trail fundraising. The
financial and
operating responsibilities of the trail are being handled by the county parks
department.
The group has been distributing a trail guidebook, developing a safety program
with paid
and volunteer bike and ranger patrols, and organizing the successful "Trees
for the
Trail Fund," generating $10,000 for landscape improvements.
Lessons Learned: Pinellas Trails, Inc. convinced the county to build
the trail
though consistent marketing pressure. The coalition developed an early game plan
that was
designed to clear the most obvious hurdles quickly. For example, the group
noticed that
the rail corridor ran through 24 political jurisdictions and 7 municipalities.
They
therefore chose a county-wide name that would include all those various
neighborhoods and
towns. Additionally, they received early assurance that the project, if
approved, would be
overseen by the county, and not by the separate municipalities. They were then
able to
focus their efforts on one governmental body. The coalition also realized that
the biking
community would not be a powerful enough constituency to lobby on their behalf,
so the
group focused its marketing efforts on walkers, runners, skaters,
environmentalists,
parents and the senior/rehabilitation community.
Contact
Scott Daniels, Pinellas Trail, Inc., 813-441-1466
(Spring 1997)
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