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usage jumps 20% in one year
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Trail saw 501K users, onequarter from out of town APRIL A. MORRIS | STAFF
amorris@communityjournals.com The number of people using the Greenville Health System’s Swamp Rabbit Trail is up – way up – said Dr. Julian Reed, associate professor of health sciences at Furman University. Reed Trail usage jumped 20 percent in one year: 403,000 in 2012 to more than 501,000 in 2013. Reed’s study also noted 25 percent of users are not from the Upstate and make up an estimated $6.7 million in economic impact. Reed presented findings this week of his Year Three usage survey, which tracked users’ gender, age and ethnicity and how they were using the trail.
Furman University students conducted surveys between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013 for four days each quarter. In 2013, most users – up to 85 percent – were on bicycles, Reed said. More men cycle on the trail, which counters trail usage statistics for other projects. In 2012, roughly 93 percent of users were white, a rate that fell slightly to 91 percent in 2013, Reed said. However, those numbers do not reflect the demographics of residents living near the trail, which are usually the most frequent users of a trail like the Swamp Rabbit, he said. The Swamp Rabbit Trail abuts multiple predominantly minority neighborhoods, but those residents are not using it because they lack safe access, he said. For example, residents near Highway 253 or Sulphur Springs Road have no safe access points to the trail, he said. Despite the popularity of the asphalt ribbon that connects downtown Greenville and Travelers Rest, Reed said some demographics aren’t taking advantage. Senior citizens and teenagers are not well
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10 THE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 5, 2014