Attracting Leisure Drivers to Pennsylvania's Roadways

Pennsylvania has the eighth largest road network in the nation and the first largest in the eastern United States. Nearly 119,000 miles of roads, streets, and highways weave through bustling urban centers, inspiring mountain passes, and bucolic farmland. Our roads offer drivers a distinctive array of scenic options.

Leisure auto travel is an important part of the tourism industry. The Automobile Association of America found that in 1997, two-thirds of American adults took a leisure trip of 100 miles or more, for a total of 963 million "person trips."

Billboards detract from the beauty of Pennsylvania's roads by blocking vistas and degrading the scenic environment. To attract more tourists to Pennsylvania, we must protect the qualities that make the state's roads beautiful.
 

Tourism and the Economy

According to the Travel Industry Association of America www.tia.org, tourism is the nation's second largest "services export" industry and third largest "retail sales" industry. In 2001, travel expenditures generated nearly 7.9 million jobs for Americans. For one out of every 18 people in the civilian labor force, their employment was directly related to travel spending.

Tourism is an important component of Pennsylvania's economy. In 2000, international and domestic travelers spent more than $14.8 billion in the Keystone State.

Preserving the scenic environment is especially important for communities dependent on tourism; the more a community does to enhance its unique natural, scenic, historic, and architectural assets, the more tourists it attracts.
 

Attracting More Tourists to Pennsylvania

Tourism is an extremely important component of the Pennsylvania economy in gross dollars. Yet, in its competition with 12 other states for per-capita tourist income, Pennsylvania ranks last. This comparison indicates that Pennsylvania--so rich with cultural, historical, natural, and sporting amenities--could be doing much more to increase tourism-related revenues.

To attract more tourists, Pennsylvania should follow the example of popular destinations such as Vermont, Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii; these states have maintained their natural scenic byways and increased tourism revenues by banning roadside billboards.

For example, three years after Vermont's last billboard was taken down, tourism revenues had increased by more than 50 percent, according to Scenic America www.scenic.org. Christopher Barbieri, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, reported that "although there was some initial sensitivity that removing billboards might hurt tourism, it has had the opposite effect. Tourism is up for all businesses, large and small."

Vermont's situation is not unique. More than 700 communities across America now prohibit the construction of new billboards.

Strengthening the Economy by Protecting the Scenic Environment

 By legally protecting roadways from billboard proliferation, Scenic Byways legislation preserves the beauty of designated corridors, while bolstering local economies.

Alternatives to Billboards Although industry officials claim that billboards provide essential information for millions of travelers, in reality, only a small percentage of billboards provide useful travel information. What is more, a variety of alternatives can provide the necessary information in a far less intrusive manner, for example: business logos grouped on medium-sized signs in the right-of-way; tourist-oriented sign systems that show the way to attractions; and new technology such as on-board navigational systems.

 
The Economic Impact of Scenic Byways

"Scenic byways," generally speaking, are specially designated rural, suburban, or urban roads with scenic, natural, historical, cultural, archaeological, or recreational value. On these beautiful roads, the driving experience itself is a "destination." Over the years, these designations have occurred at the local, state, and national levels. The roadways are identified by various names, such as "heritage routes, rustic roads, and backcountry byways."

The economic value of promoting travel on these distinctive roadways is significant. The Virginia Department of Transportation estimates that a scenic byway designation generates a minimum five-percent increase in tourist traffic. Impact Research Associates, Inc., has found that out-of-state travelers who use Vermont's scenic byways for pleasure or sightseeing spend 25 percent more per day than people who were driving for other reasons.

National Scenic Byways Program

In 1991, the U.S. Department of Transportation established an official National Scenic Byways program. The Federal Highway Administration (FHA), under its "America's Byways" program www.byways.org, currently promotes 95 so-designated roads in 39 states. To benefit from this program, a state must pass "enabling" legislation and meet the criteria set forth by the federal government. One of these criteria is having strict outdoor-advertising controls that includes "no new billboards" along the designated corridors.

Although the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has a state scenic byways program, this initiative does not comply with the FHA national standards. Legislative attempts at qualifying Pennsylvania for the federal program have failed in the state capital, because support has not been forceful enough to counteract opposition from the outdoor-advertising industry. This situation must change. Becoming part of the National Scenic Byways Program would make more federal money available to preserve the visual environment and promote tourism along Pennsylvania's scenic roadways.