Recreational Trails Program
Source: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
The RTP funds come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, and represent a portion of the motor fuel excise tax collected from nonhighway recreational fuel use: fuel used for off-highway recreation by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-highway light trucks. The RTP funds are distributed to the States by legislative formula: half of the funds are distributed equally among all States, and half are distributed in proportion to the estimated amount of nonhighway recreational fuel use in each State. See the Funding Levels by State. The distribution model is based on a report for FHWA by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in July 1999 (Fuel Used for Off-Road Recreation: A Reassessment of the Fuel Use Model).
