RTC's purpose is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors.
As of December 2012, RTC had approximately 80,000 paid members, the remainder of its funding coming from foundation and corporate grants and major donors.
RTC members have developed programs focusing on urban rail trails and trail systems since 2009, including RTC's Urban Pathways Initiative (UPI),[3] which features ongoing programs in Washington, D.C., Camden, New Jersey, Jacksonville, Florida, Compton, California, New Orleans, Louisiana, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Cleveland, Ohio, and is funded by The Kresge Foundation.
The "railbanking" provisions of this legislation allowed disused railroad corridors to be preserved in public ownership rather than sold and irrevocably dismantled.
[4] In addition to the creation of public railtrails, railbanking legislation has also enabled the reactivation of rail service along previously disused corridors.