The automotive parking data for the Buckeye, North Country, American Discovery Trail was merged, converted to GPX and uploaded to my public cloud. But I won't publish the download location until I link it to the Ohio Transit Hiker's Resource (OTHR) so I only have to maintain one link. One might ask... Q: what does automotive parking have to do with transit? A: some of the transit agencies that offer dial-a-ride/ shared ride/ curb-to-curb type services may require that their vehicle pull in some where in order for the transit hiker to board/ disembark. But the other thing is that Ohio does not have an official hiking season. And the may have to come off trail to reach a plowed lot that is attached to a plowed road, thus limiting their options. But with this parking data, OTHR and the fact that hikers would probably be willing to walk 2.5 to 4.0 miles from trail to reach an amenity, there's probably still options in most areas under those conditions. Speaking for myself, I won't stop until I'm out of options.
I've determined that the Buckeye Trail has two camping/ lodging amenity deficiencies that it proceeds in spite of. That's because thru hikers make up the vast minority of Ohio hikers. I have yet to write a mock thru hiker for the upcoming 2016 Edition of the OTHR. It has eliminated all except one and this year I think it will do them all. But in the past, I've never written a mock hiker for the winter. And while I really don't know what amenities go out of season. With that being written, it's a question if transit can compensate for the loss?
I have a GPS files for every campsite, campground, motel, hotel, bed & breakfast in range of the Buckeye. This project would entail contacting every campground and B&B within 4 miles of the trail to ascertain if they're open in the winter? Once done, then the mock hiker can be routed.
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