Trail Use in the N.C. Museum of Art Park:

Transcription

1 Trail Use in the N.C. Museum of Art Park: New Connections, New Visitors Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, PhD Daniel Rodriguez, PhD Taylor Dennerlein, MSEE, MCRP, EIT Jill Mead, MPH Evan Comen University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

2 Executive Summary This report presents results of a study of trail use at the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) Park in Raleigh, North Carolina, before and after the opening of a new trail extension connecting the park to an extensive greenway network. The 164- acre NCMA Park features three miles of paved and unpaved trails interspersed with outdoor sculptures. In September 2012, a new trail, the House Creek Trail, established a connection between the mile Crabtree Creek Trail to the north and the Reedy Creek and Rocky Branch trails to the south of the NCMA Park. The study reported here analyzed the effects of this new trail on NCMA Park use by collecting trail counts and trail user surveys three months before (June 2012) and nine months after (June 2013) the opening of the House Creek Trail. Overall, we found an increase in trail use in the NCMA Park after the opening of the House Creek Trail that was highly statistically significant. On average, NCMA Park trail use on the trail section connecting to the House Creek Trail increased by two users per hour. During some time periods, trail use increased by as much as 25 people per hour in 2013, compared to comparable time periods from We found that during both survey years, NCMA Park visitors mainly use the park for physical activity, with about 80% reporting they use the park for walking, more than 20% using the park for jogging and about 15% reporting use of the park for cycling. We also found that the park attracts many repeat visitors and that the number of people reporting regular visits increased from 2012 to In 2012, about one- third of park users reported visting at least once a week, whereas this percentage increased to nearly half in From these results, it appears that more people are entering the NCMA Park from the Raleigh greenway system now that the House Creek Trail has opened and that the number of repeat visits to the park has increased. Furthermore, most NCMA Park visitors use the park for physical activity. These results lend support to the physical activity and resulting health benefits of investing in new urban trail connections.

3 Introduction The increasing rate of obesity, brought on in part by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, has focused attention on the relationships between the design of the built environment and its effects on physical activity. Evidence suggests that access to greenways and trails increases physical activity, yet relatively few quantitative studies of these effects have been undertaken. The study presented here builds the evidence base for understanding the effects of urban greenway and trail systems on population physical activity. The study evaluated changes in the number of people using a trail system in the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) Park in Raleigh, North Carolina, after the installation of a new trail extension connecting NCMA trails to an extensive urban greenway system. The 164- acre NCMA outdoor sculpture park features three miles of paved and unpaved trails that are used for exercise and recreation. The trail network forms part of the Capital Area Greenway System, connecting with Umstead State Park to the northwest via the Reedy Creek Trail and downtown Raleigh to the southeast via the Rocky Branch Trail, making the NCMA trails an important connection for area bicyclists, joggers, and walkers. 1 A new trail extension, the three- mile House Creek Trail, opened in September This new north- south segment provided a connection between the mile Crabtree Creek Trail to the north and the Reedy Creek and Rocky Branch trails to the south (Figure ). The plans to open this new trail connection provided a unique opportunity to conduct a natural experiment: to count the number of NCMA Park trail users before and after opening the new trail, in order to evaluate whether this new connection increased the number of users of the NCMA park trails. This report presents the results of this natural experiment. In addition to counting NCMA Park trail users before and after installation of the new greenway extension, this study also surveyed park users. The survey asked users about their reasons for visiting the trails, frequency of use, location before coming to the park, destination afterwards, weekly physical activity, and demographic characteristics. The intent of the survey was to provide the NCMA with demographic information about its park customers. Objectives and Hypotheses The main objective of the trail counting experiment was to compare NCMA trail use before and after the opening of the House Creek Trail extension. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that NCMA trail use would increase after the opening of the House Creek Trail. 1 City of Raleigh. (2013). Capital Area Greenway Trail System. 2 City of Raleigh (2013). House Creek Greenway Trail.

4 Figure 1. Map showing how the House Creek Greenway (green) connects the Crabtree Creek Greenway (blue) to the Reedy Creek Greenway (purple). The star indicates the location of the NCMA. Methods To determine the effects of the House Creek Greenway trail extension on NCMA trail use, we counted trail users on consecutive June weekends in 2012, three months before the greenway opened, and again in 2013, nine months after opening. Trail counts were conducted from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. During both years, counts were conducted on clear days to minimize the effects of weather and seasonal variation. Table 1 shows the dates on which trail counts were collected. Table 1. Dates of trail counts 2012 Friday, June 8 Saturday, June 9 Sunday, June 10 Thursday, June 14 Friday, June 15 Saturday, June 16 Sunday, June Friday, June 14 Saturday, June 15 Sunday, June 16 Thursday, June 20 Friday, June 21 Saturday, June 22 Sunday, June 23

5 Trail counts were conducted at the pedestrian and bicyclist bridge over I- 440 at the location where the new House Creek Greenway joins the park trails (Figure 2). Project team members and volunteers recorded the number of pedestrians and cyclists crossing the bridge in each direction. On each survey day, trail counts were recorded for four three- hour time intervals (6:00-9:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m., 12:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m., and 3:00-6:00 p.m.) and one 2.5- hour time interval (6:00-8:30 p.m.), for a total of hour time windows and hour time windows during each of the two years. As a result, we ended up with 35 matched pairs of trail count data for the two different sampling years. For example, the first matched pair compares trail use from 6:00-9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 8, 2012, with use during the same time window on Friday, June 14, These matched pairs are used to evaluate whether trail use increased after the House Creek Greenway opened. Figure 2. NCMA Park trail map. Trail counts were conducted on the pedestrian/cyclist bridge over Interstate 440; users entering and leaving the NCMA Park on foot or bicycle via this bridge were counted, in order to determine the effect of the new House Creek Trail on use of the NCMA Park.

6 The trail visitor survey consisted of 15 questions to be administered face- to- face to voluntarily participating trail visitors. The survey contained questions about visit frequency, purpose, and length, arrival mode, origin of trip (for example, home or work) and its approximate location, post- visit destination, age, gender, and frequency of physical activity. Appendix 1 shows the complete survey. In all, 348 visitors were surveyed in 2012, and 353 were surveyed in Findings Trail use increased significantly between 2012 and 2013 Our trail counts provide evidence that use of the NCMA trails increased significantly between June 2012, three months before the House Creek Greenway opened, and June 2013, nine months after the opening. These results confirm our initial hypothesis. Figure 3 shows counts during each of the 35 pairs of sampling events for 2012 and 2013, along with the difference in counts between each pair (2013 counts minus 2012 counts). Trail use was higher in 2013 for 27 of the 35 paired sampling events. On average, NCMA trail use increased by two people per hour from 2012 to 2013, and this difference was highly statistically significant (based on a comparison of average hourly counts during the 35 paired sampling events, p=1.5 x 10-6 ). Figure 3. NCMA trail use at the intersection of the NCMA Park bridge and House Creek Greenway before and after the Greenway opened. Times shown are for the dates listed in Table 1. The black bars show the difference between 2013 and 2012 trail use (scale on right- hand vertical axis). A positive difference means trail uses increased in 2013, compared to the corresponding period in 2012.

7 Figure 4. Origins of NCMA park visitors before arriving at park. Dots show reported trip origins. Shading indicates density of visitors originating from the given area. Left panel: weekends. Right panel: weekdays. Distance travelled to reach NCMA Park increased from 2012 to 2013 The average distance travelled to get to the park increased from 2012 to 2013 for weekdays and weekends, although this difference was statistically significant only for weekday use. The average distance travelled on weekdays was 3.4 miles in 2012 and 4.7 miles in 2013 (one- tailed t- test p=0.006). On weekends, the average distance travelled was 4.7 miles in 2012 and 6.4 miles in 2013 (one- tailed t- test p=0.15). On weekdays in 2012, half of park users came from locations within 1.6 miles of the NCMA, whereas in 2013 only 18% came from within 1.6 miles of the NCMA. A similar trend of increasing distances of travel to reach the park occurred on weekends: in 2012, half of park users travelled from distances within 3 miles of the park, whereas in 2013 the percentage of travelers coming from less than 3 miles away decreased to 40%. Figure 4 show the locations that respondents to the 2013 survey reported as the originating point (immediately prior to visiting the NCMA) on weekends (right panel) and weekdays (left panel). (Not included are two respondents who were visiting from outside of the Raleigh metropolitan areas.) As shown, most weekday visitors are from the neighborhoods close to the NCMA Park, whereas weekend visitors tend to come from farther away. Visitors use the NCMA park for physical activity The trail survey results show that almost all users of the NCMA Park engage in physical activity during their visit (most commonly, walking). Figure 5 shows the percentage of respondents reporting various activities in 2012 and As shown, the mix of activities is similar for both survey periods. The vast majority of park users walk, jog, and/or ride a bike during their visit.

8 Figure 5. Activities undertaken by NCMA Park visitors while at the park. Park attracted more repeat visitors in 2013 than in 2012 Survey results also showed that the NCMA Park attracts many repeat visitors and that the number of frequent visitors increased between 2012 and Figure 6 shows park use frequency in 2012 and As shown, about one- third of visitors in 2012 reported visiting the park at least 1-2 times per week, whereas in 2013 nearly half reported using the park 1-2 times per week. This increase in regular park use was highly statistically significant (Z test of difference in proportions, p< ). Trail visitor demographic characteristics resemble those of Raleigh Table 2 shows the demographic characteristics of trail users in 2012 and Compared to the City of Raleigh, survey respondents were more likely to be female. Overall, the age distribution of trail users was similar to that in the City of Raleigh, although the percentage of visitors above retirement age is slightly lower in the park than in Raleigh. Responses from visitors under age 18 were not collected per Institutional Review Board requirements.

9 Figure 6. The NCMA Park attracts many repeat visitors, and the number of repeat visitors increased from 2012 to Table 2. Blue Ridge Road Corridor trail use survey respondent demographic characteristics Demographics Survey respondents Survey respondents City of Raleigh Total population ,767 Gender Female 57.9% 59.5% 51.6% Male 42.1% 40.5% 48.4% Age Under 18 years to 24 years 15% 14% 18% 25 to 34 years 24% 32% 22% 35 to 44 years 22% 22% 19% 45 to 54 years 18% 19% 15% 55 to 64 years 15% 10% 10% 65 to 74 years 4% 2% 5% 75 to 84 years 1% 1% 3% 85 years and over 0% 0% 1% 1 Age distribution of the City of Raleigh represents the percentage of the population aged 18 years and older. 3 Data not collected from respondents younger than 18 per terms of IRB approval.

10 Appendix NCMA Trail Visitor Survey PART 1: TRAIL USAGE 1) On average, how often do you use the Museum Park trails? Daily 3-5 times a week 1-2 times a week a couple of times in the month once a month a few times a year first time 2) How long does a typical visit to the trails last? hours minutes 3) When do you use the Museum Park trails? Weekends Weekdays Both 4) What type of activities do you do when you come to the Museum Park trails? Walking Jogging Biking Art viewing Picnicking Dog walking Other: 5) When you come to the trails, do you usually come: Alone With another person With several other people 6) How did you get to the Museum Park today? Walked Biked Drove Bus Other 7) Where were you before you came to the trails? Home Work School Art Museum Other:

11 8) What is the nearest intersection to that place? 9) Where will you go after using the trails? Home Work School Art Museum Other: 10) What is the nearest intersection to that place? 11) Approximately when (year and season) did you first start using the museum trails? PART 2: BACKGROUND QUESTIONS 12) Gender Male Female 13) What is your age? ) How many times a week do you usually do 20 minutes or more of vigorous- intensity physical activity? This is activity that causes large increases in breathing or heart rate, such as heavy lifting, heavy yard work, jogging, aerobics, or fast bicycling. 3 or more times a week 1 or 2 times a week None 15) How many times a week do you usually do 30 minutes or more of moderate- intensity physical activity? This is activity that causes small increases in breather or heart rate, such as walking, carrying light loads, bicycling at a regular pace, or vacuuming (Note, this does not include vigorous- intensity activity). 5 or more times a week 3 to 4 times a week 1 or 2 times a week None