Follow the Delaware River Trail (DRT): Connecting Philadelphia's Waterfront to Job Hubs

Abstract

The Delaware River Trail is a 3.3-mile-long, multimodal trail in Philadelphia, PA, maintained by the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. This research project used a spatial analysis of Indego bike share trips from 14 stations near the trail to argue that the trail is connecting waterfront residents to job hubs. In the year after the trail opened, there was a 22% increase in overall trips, a 28% increase in rush hour trips, more trips on the periphery, and 5% growth in longer-term passholders and electric bike riders. Findings include: 1) Strong utilization of the existing Delaware River Trail since it opened: More than 100,000 one-way trips on the Delaware River Trail since it opened. Among the 14 stations, total one-way trips grew by 22%, from 86,258 trips in Year 0 to 105,388 trips in Year 1. 2) Strong usage of the Delaware River Trail during commuter rush hour: 28% growth in commuter rush hour one-way trips of the Delaware River Trail. On the 14 stations, total weekday rush hour one-way trips grew from 23,605 in Year 0 to 30,193 in Year 1. 3) More trail riders are starting or ending their trips beyond Penn’s Landing/Old City. Strong trip growth in Fishtown, Northern Liberties, and South Philadelphia.