Tide to Town

What Tide to Town does

Tide to Town is a Savannah, Georgia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization developing a protected network of nearly 30 miles of ADA-compliant walking and bicycling trails connecting neighborhoods from downtown to the city's marshes and waterways. The organization is operated by Friends of Tide to Town, Inc., with the underlying coalition formed in 2017 and the nonprofit incorporated in 2018. Beneficiaries are the residents of Savannah and Chatham County, with priority emphasis on low-income and minority neighborhoods where unsafe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists are most acute (Georgia ranks sixth nationally for pedestrian danger, and 13.7% of Savannah households lack vehicle access).

The trail system is built around a 30-mile core loop using paved concrete and asphalt surfaces, timber boardwalk sections, pedestrian bridges, HAWK beacon crossings at busy arterials such as DeRenne Avenue, and safety features including lighting, security cameras, and emergency call boxes. Routing leverages existing public rights-of-way along streets and canals to minimize land acquisition costs. Delivered segments include the Truman Linear Park Trail (Phase 2A opened November 2020, approximately 3.1 miles from DeRenne Avenue to Lake Mayer) and the Police Memorial Trail (reopened November 2021 after a $1.5 million reconstruction by Johnson Laux). The completed network is designed to link 827 acres of existing parkland, traverse 18 neighborhoods, and pass 13 schools, with the northwest portion designated as Savannah's main segment of the East Coast Greenway.

Tide to Town operates on a non-commercial model: the trail is free public infrastructure with no user fees, and the organization's inflows are public-sector grants, hotel/motel tax allocations, federal transportation funds, and donations. Its largest disclosed capital infusion is a $10 million allocation from the City of Savannah in 2023, funded by a Georgia General Assembly-authorized increase to the hotel/motel tax, supplementing earlier federal ($1.008M, 2005) and SPLOST ($1M, 2021) grants. The go-to-market is coalition-driven: partnerships with the City of Savannah and Chatham County as government clients, advocacy partners (Healthy Savannah/YMCA of Coastal Georgia, Bike Walk Savannah), engineering and construction vendors (Kimley-Horn, Thomas & Hutton, Astra Group, Johnson Laux), and corporate sponsors (Enmarket, Center Parc Credit Union) for programming such as the Enmarket Encourage Health educational series.

Name

Tide to Town

Legal name

Friends of Tide to Town, Inc.

Website

https://tidetotown.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Friends of Tide to Town, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit developing a protected, approximately 30-mile network of ADA-compliant walking and bicycling trails that connect Savannah, Georgia neighborhoods, parks, schools, and employment centers, funded primarily by public grants and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Savannah

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Tide to Town is a free, public urban trail system developed and stewarded by the nonprofit Friends of Tide to Town, Inc. It is constructing nearly 30 miles of protected walking and bicycling trails throughout Savannah, Georgia, connecting all neighborhoods from downtown to marshes and waterways. The network includes ADA-compliant paved multi-use paths, timber boardwalks, pedestrian bridges, lighting, and safety infrastructure, and serves as Savannah's main segment of the East Coast Greenway.

Product overview

Tide to Town is Savannah's Urban Trail System, a nonprofit-led initiative developed by Friends of Tide to Town to create a protected network of walking and bicycling trails. The system consists of nearly 30 miles of trails connecting all of Savannah's neighborhoods, with the core being a 30-mile route encircling the city. Key components include the Truman Linear Park Trail (the first completed segment, approximately 6 miles extending to 9 miles with loops), the Police Memorial Trail (reconstructed and reopened in 2021), and planned connector paths to priority neighborhoods. The network also integrates with the East Coast Greenway. The project serves every aldermanic district within the City of Savannah with potential expansion to surrounding municipalities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Truman Linear Park Trail: The first completed segment of the Tide to Town trail network - a concrete multi-use path extending from DeRenne Avenue to Lake Mayer Community Park, approximately 3 miles long.
• Police Memorial Trail

Products and services

• Tide to Town Urban Trail System A nearly 30-mile protected network of walking and bicycling trails connecting all of Savannah's neighborhoods from downtown to marshes and waterways, designed for users aged 8 to 80 and separated from car and truck traffic.
• Truman Linear Park Trail A concrete multi-use path of approximately 6 miles (extending to 9 miles with Daffin Park and Lake Mayer loops) that links 827 acres of existing park land through the Casey Canal Corridor, connecting Lake Mayer to Daffin Park.
• Police Memorial Trail A trail segment extending from Kerry Street to near the corner of 51st Lane and Bee Road, providing an ADA-compliant surface and connecting to the Truman Trail project.
• McQueen's Island Trail An existing trail segment integrated into the broader Tide to Town network and reopened for public use as part of the protected trail system.
• East Coast Greenway Connection The portion of Tide to Town that will serve as Savannah's main segment of the East Coast Greenway, integrating the local trail network with the long-distance walking and bicycling trail system spanning the eastern United States.

Quantifiable outcome

• 60% of Savannah neighborhoods within 1/4 mile or 5 minute walk of the core loop
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• Johnson LauxmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 February 2021Construction firm awarded $1.5 million contract in February 2021 by City of Savannah for reconstruction and improvement of Police Memorial Trail. Scope included removing deteriorated asphalt, stabilizing bank slopes, wetlands remediation, and replacing asphalt with concrete pavement.
• Healthy Savannah / YMCA of Coastal GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey advocacy partner for the Tide to Town trail system. Healthy Savannah and YMCA of Coastal Georgia collaborate on physical activity promotion, including the Healthy Walks program and community engagement initiatives. Armand Turner serves as both Physical Activity Program Manager at Healthy Savannah and Chair of Friends of Tide to Town board.
• Bike Walk SavannahcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormerly Savannah Bicycle Campaign; primary advocacy organization for bicycling and walking infrastructure. Executive Director Caila Brown serves on Friends of Tide to Town board. Began advocating for Truman Linear Park Trail in 2008 and identified it as top priority in 2013.
• City of SavannahcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government partner responsible for ongoing upkeep and maintenance of trails after construction. City Council approved hotel/motel tax increase funding $10 million for Tide to Town expansion and $17 million for trail and sidewalk connections. Savannah Mayor Eddie DeLoach compared project to Atlanta Beltline.
• Chatham CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner managing construction of Truman Linear Park Trail through Department of Engineering. County awarded construction contract to Astra Group. Reached agreement with City of Savannah in 2014 to build the project.
• Georgia Department of TransportationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAuthorized construction to begin in February 2019 for Truman Linear Park Trail. Ongoing coordination on transportation infrastructure integration.
• East Coast GreenwaymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTide to Town will serve as Savannah's main segment of the East Coast Greenway, integrating local trail network with long-distance walking and bicycling trail system spanning the eastern United States.
• Kimley-HornminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSenior Landscape Architect Laura Ballock, board member of Friends of Tide to Town, is employed by Kimley-Horn, providing design and planning expertise for trail projects.
• EnmarketminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsorship of Enmarket Encourage Health Educational Series, a virtual lecture series exploring healthy walking routes including Tide to Town trails. Series streamed on Enmarket and Healthy Savannah Facebook pages.
• Center Parc Credit UnionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-sponsor of Enmarket Encourage Health Educational Series exploring healthy walking routes and trail connectivity.
• Astra GroupmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConstruction contractor awarded contract by Chatham County for Truman Linear Park Trail construction. Project began in February 2019.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• PeopleForBikes: National bicycling advocacy and infrastructure coalition. Comparable in advocacy-driven mission and federal-grant influence relevant to Tide to Town's funding and policy strategy.

Emerging players

• Healthy Savannah: CDC REACH-funded community health nonprofit whose staff chair and lead Friends of Tide to Town. Sister organization executing the health-equity programming that complements the trail buildout.
• Bike Walk Savannah: Local walking and bicycling advocacy nonprofit whose Executive Director sits on the Tide to Town board. Mission-aligned advocacy peer and core coalition partner.

Regional players

• Augusta Canal Trail / North Augusta Greeneway: Featured as a Tide to Town case study on its own website. Comparable Georgia urban trail project leveraging canal and river corridors for multi-use paths — a directly relevant regional benchmark.
• Columbus Dragonfly Trails (Columbus, GA): Featured as a Tide to Town case study and explicitly named in Tide to Town's messaging as a comparable Georgia peer. Multi-use paved trail network with similar urban connectivity mission.
• Carrollton GreenBelt: Georgia citywide loop trail explicitly cited as a Tide to Town case study. Directly comparable in scale, governance model (nonprofit-led), and equity framing within the same state.
• North Oconee River Greenway and Firefly Trail (Athens, GA): Cited as a Tide to Town case study. Athens-based multi-use trail along the Oconee River; comparable scale, public-private funding mix, and connector-path buildout approach.

Broad incumbents

• East Coast Greenway Alliance: Manages the long-distance East Coast Greenway of which Tide to Town's northwest segment is the Savannah link. Direct strategic partner and the closest network-level peer given the integration of the two systems.
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: National nonprofit that funds and advocates for rail-trail conversions across the U.S. Tide to Town uses similar public-rights-of-way strategies and is a programmatic peer in the trail-building nonprofit ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Atlanta BeltLine: Atlanta's comparable urban trail and greenway network built on a 22-mile rail corridor loop. Savannah's Mayor explicitly compared Tide to Town to the BeltLine, and the two projects share a model of converting rights-of-way into multi-use trails that drive adjacent real estate and equity outcomes.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Tide2Town
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/tidetotown
• Facebookfacebook.com/TideToTown

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tide to Town