National Scenic Byways Program and America's Byways Resource Center: 10-Year Report This December 2009 report represents the byway-specific knowledge base and resources created over the previous decade to fortify the success and sustainability of designated byways. It covers work implemented by the America’s Byways Resource Center in support of the National Scenic Byways Program. For ease of viewing this 10-year compilation, descriptions of the work follow the Introduction in four categories: Research, Training, Tools, and Evaluation. Links to digital resources are provided when available. For additional information, please contact the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program or America's Byways Resource Center. America's Byways Resource Center is a division of the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This material is based upon work supported by the Federal Highway Administration and Arrowhead Regional Development Commission under cooperative agreement No. DTFH61-08-H-00007. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the Author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Federal Highway Administration and/or Arrowhead Regional Development Commission. The Arrowhead Regional Development Commission is an equal opportunity employer. The National Scenic Byways Program marked its 18th anniversary in 2009. In that year, the America's Byways(R) collection expanded to include a total of 150 special routes across the country designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. This milestone reflected the Program's commitment to its original vision of creating a distinctive collection of American roads, their stories and treasured places. The expansion also reinforced the Program's mission to provide resources to the byway community that help create unique travel experiences and enhance local quality of life through efforts to preserve, protect, interpret and promote the intrinsic qualities of designated byways. An outcome of that guiding mission, America's Byways Resource Center was established in 1998 to offer technical assistance, training and resources to the grassroots groups and individuals who manage the routes of America's Byways. Funding derives from a cooperative agreement between America's Byways Resource Center's parent organization, which is the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission, and the Federal Highway Administration. America's Byways Resource Center's vision is to foster sustainable byway organizations that participate in networking and seek to deliver authentic experiences for their designated byways. Since its inception, America's Byways Resource Center has worked to provide positive, proactive, hands-on assistance to the byway community in core areas such as finances, byway organization, corridor management and visitor experience. Along the way, America's Byways Resource Center's leadership has helped to spark other initiatives incorporating aspects of byway preservation, protection or promotion. For example, participants at the 2001 National Scenic Byways Conference identified a need for a not-for-profit organization to support nationally designated byways. America's Byways Resource Center, which had developed the conference programming, then served as a conduit for interested individuals to form the National Scenic Byway Foundation. Similarly, America's Byways Resource Center assisted the Scenic Byway Coalition, a group representing more than 30 national tour and recreational organizations, to honor the 15th anniversary of the National Scenic Byways Program (http://www.nsbfoundation.com/) and implement the Byways 2021 Blog (http://www.byways2021.org/). America's Byways Resource Center and the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program have concentrated the majority of their efforts during the past ten years toward helping local byway groups and individuals gain tools and information to reach individual byway goals and achieve sustainable success. Working together, the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program and America's Byways Resource Center have identified information gaps in knowledge fields critical to byway success, and collaborated to meet the specific training, education and resource needs of byway leaders, volunteers, advocates and stakeholders. FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program and America's Byways Resource Center look forward to continuing on this road to success. Reearch Introduction America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program have engaged in research intended to provide tangible benefits to the entire byway community. Time and resources have been allocated to identify and address the critical areas for research, such as the economic impacts of national scenic byway designation. The information was interpreted, if needed, and made available to byway organizations to help shape future efforts and strategies for byway sustainability. Market Research Results 2007 America's Byways Resource Center, in partnership with the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program, worked with Longwoods International to execute three phases of research to study stakeholders, profile visitor audience and assess positioning. The market research confirmed that, while there is a significant market for driving trips, awareness of the America's Byways(R) brand is virtually non-existent. The research provided a basis for future marketing efforts and helped shape the framework for a partnership marketing initiative to elevate national awareness of the brand. Following the launch of a potential partnership marketing campaign, this baseline data will enable the America's Byways Resource Center to measure the change in awareness over time, therefore providing a measurement of success. Work Synopsis * Audience: America's Byways Resource Center, FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program, and the byway community. * Goal: To conduct an analysis of vehicular travelers and their motivations, and to collect baseline data about the public's awareness of the America's Byways collection. The analysis would be useful to Resource Center and Program staff in developing a public awareness strategy and to the byway community as they market their individual byways to the traveling public. * Intensity: Three phases of research focused on stakeholders, visitor profiling and brand positioning. * Duration: Based on the Longwoods Travel USA(R) Personal Vehicular Travel Analysis and Custom Image & Positioning Research studies executed for America's Byways in 2006 and 2007. * Product: A compilation of research in a series of PDFs and .txt formats, available for viewing and printing on www.bywaysresourcecenter.org. * Outcome: The research provided a basis for future marketing efforts and helped shape the framework for a partnership marketing initiative to elevate national awareness of the brand. * Continued Use: Following the launch of a potential partnership marketing campaign, this baseline data will enable the America's Byways Resource Center to measure the change in awareness over time, therefore providing a measurement of success. Key Highlights (PDF, .txt) Personal Vehicular Traveler Analysis - 2005 (PDF, .txt) Personal Vehicular Traveler Analysis - 2007 (PDF, .txt) Awareness, Familiarity and Appeal of the America's Byways(R) Collection (PDF, .txt) Product Perception vs. Actual Experience (PDF, .txt) Motivating Potential Byways Travelers (PDF, .txt) Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Scenic Byway Designation Executive Summary - 2003 Commissioned by America's Byways Resource Center, the Economic Development Research Group (Boston, MA) prepared the original document, Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Scenic Byway Designation, in 2001. The University of Minnesota - Duluth, School of Business and Economics Bureau of Business and Economic Research completed an Executive Summary of the original document to distill the material for the byway community's non-economists. The Executive Summary, produced by America's Byways Resource Center, was not intended to verify any findings of the 2001 studies. One of the most frequent requests from the byway community is a method of measuring their byway's economic impact on surrounding communities. The results of the report were inconclusive and did not provide sufficient results on which to base a conclusion. Work Synopsis * Audience: Nationally designated byways. * Goal: To review how other researchers have attempted to measure the economic impact of scenic byway designation, and to offer the byway community tools and information they need to draw conclusions from previous economic impact research. * Intensity: Self-directed study; primarily intended for readers not familiar with the subject. * Duration: Self-directed study. * Product: An Executive Summary document, available in PDF format upon request from America's Byways Resource Center. * Outcome: A report that evaluated previous research, which could help in designing future economic impact studies for scenic byways. * Continued Use: No quantifiable data is available. Executive Summary (PDF, .txt) Training America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program have worked to provide learning opportunities that allow grassroots byway organizations to develop an essential level of knowledge for effectively planning and managing their respective corridor's intrinsic qualities. This work has been accomplished through traditional-style workshops, distance learning, on-demand learning and self-study tutorials. Byways 101 Online Training 2009 - Present Byways 101, produced by America's Byways Resource Center, introduces volunteers, leaders and coordinators to the basics of byways in four primary sections: Program Overview, Intrinsic Qualities & The Byway Story, Public & Community Involvement, and Planning, Action & Nomination. Work Synopsis * Audience: New byway organizations, individuals new to existing byway organizations, byway community stakeholders and interested parties. * Goal: Provide basic byway information and links to tools and resources, by combining information from the previously published Byway Beginnings and the Community Guide, and incorporating new, relevant information in a digitally navigable format. * Intensity: An online format provides 24/7 access to information and tools, and the division of content into four primary sections provides definable learning objectives for each section. Participants can complete a knowledge self-assessment to aid in determining what information is available, and users can view a video module for each section that describes the objectives and tools. * Duration: This is a self-directed learning experience, allowing users to review the information by subject as many times as he or she prefers, and for as long as desired. Data shows the average time spent on the site between April 2009 and December 2009 is over six minutes per visit. The average visitor sees 6.97 pages per visit. * Product: Online digital product consisting of 170 pages, as well as video. * Outcome: 311 registered users, and 2,070 visits since April 2009 with over 14,000 page views. * Continued Use: The site offers continuous learning potential. Its online format is expected to gain new users over time, as well as incremental increases in returning users seeking topic-specific guidance. The downloadable PDF pages encourage use as a printed resource for ongoing reference material. www.byways101.org National Scenic Byways Conferences 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program have hosted a biennial national conference to provide learning opportunities through classroom presentations, experiential workshops and peer-to-peer exchanges covering core topic areas important to byways, such as finances, organizational development, corridor management, visitor experience, and marketing. Work Synopsis * Audience: National Scenic Byway community (America's Byways(R), State byways, USFS Byways, BLM Backcountry Byways, Tribal byways, NPS Park Roads, Refuge Roads), byway practitioners, State and Tribal byway program coordinators, and partners. Average attendance per conference is 400. * Goal: To highlight opportunities to improve and sustain byways, instill a high sense of responsibility, and provide an important networking opportunity for the byway community. * Intensity: Classroom sessions, field sessions, best practices, awards programs, general sessions and exhibits. * Duration: Typically 3-4 days in length, averaging 8 hours per day. * Product: Onsite conference brochure; attendee directory; Scenic Byway Awards publication; conference presentations and materials for 2007 and 2009 were made available online for those unable to attend. * Outcomes: Since 1999, six conferences have yielded a total of 2,500 participants and a total of 669.75 contact hours. Continuing Education Credit hours are offered upon request. Evaluation in 2009 indicated that 69% of respondents felt that the biennial conference is an efficient use of time. Networking, learning new skills and sharing new ideas were the primary factors indicated when respondents selected their preferred conference experiences on surveys. * Continued Use: Most conference presentations and materials from the 2007 and 2009 conferences are available online in PDF and .txt formats, and continue to be used and referred by the Byways Specialists when providing technical assistance to byway groups. 2009 Conference 2007 Conference 2005 Conference 2003 Conference 2001 Conference 1999 Conference Distance-Learning Opportunities 2005 - Present Hosted by America's Byways Resource Center, Tele-Workshops offered call-in learning opportunities about topics of importance to the byway community, providing a guest speaker or facilitator and follow-up fact sheet for more information. Podcasts and webcasts have replaced the Tele-Workshop for cost-effective delivery channels. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway practitioners, byway leaders, and State and Tribal byway program coordinators. * Goal: To provide subject-specific tutorials in a cost-effective manner and facilitate information sharing among participants. * Intensity: Most sessions cover exposure to basic theories and concepts, and include access to tools and resources. A few in-depth sessions and modules cover intermediate-level information with tools and resources. * Duration: 60-120 minutes per session; some courses contain multi-session modules. * Product: Recorded webcasts, recorded podcasts, Tele-Workshop Fact Sheets, and online tools. * Outcome: Continued opportunity to access subject-specific information without travel costs or session fees. Distance-learning format allows for multiple participants regardless of location. Limited and specific session time complements multiple time zones and encourages participation. Data shows 694 active participants; 25 live sessions; 436 clicks on digital formats; 13,200 Fact Sheets covering 23 Tele-Workshops have been distributed, and digital formats are available. * Continued Use: Recordings and subsequent webcasts and podcasts allow for repeated use; printed or downloaded Fact Sheets provide ongoing reference material. Podcasts and Webcasts - 2008 - Present Tele-Workshop Fact Sheets - 2005 - 2007 Power Workshops: Strength Training for Byways 2004 - Present Power Workshops, delivered by the America's Byways Resource Center, offered regional four-hour, theme-intensive workshops that focused on developing skills in fundraising, organizational sustainability and resource protection. The regional nature of these workshops made them more accessible and affordable to the byway community, while providing a valuable networking opportunity for byway representatives within their own regions. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway leaders. * Goal: To provide hands-on, theme-based sessions focusing on the foundations for byway organization planning in topics such as resource management, fundraising and organizational sustainability. * Intensity: Full participant-style workshop. Participants remained in small groups and worked together in each respective subject area. Teachers rotated to the groups. Sessions required role-playing, problem solving and presentations to other participants. * Duration: Three 4-hour theme-based sessions and one general session over 1.5 days, for a total of 15 contact hours. This scenario was repeated four times around the country, for a total of 184 participants and a total of 60 contact hours. * Product: 70-page workbook; 3 self-assessment indicator worksheets. * Outcomes: Workbook has been formatted for digital use; indicators are in print-and-go tools available to byway organizations. Curriculum developed for workshop has been modified for use with byway specialists in the field. Byway organizations that have participated in the workshop have revised their resource strategies and strategic planning efforts, and have redefined their mission and vision statements based on the workshop. * Continued Use: Digital versions of the work book and the self-assessment indicators continue to be used by byways specialists when working with byway organizations in the field. Conserving Our Treasured Places: Managing Visual Quality on Scenic Byways Publication - 2004 The result of a collaboration with Scenic America and America's Byways Resource Center, this manual and two-day workshop program was developed to help guide byway groups and communities through the scenic conservation planning process, including how to engage key partners; assess, inventory and map visual resources along the byway; identify and prioritize scenic issues; and develop a scenic conservation strategy. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway practitioners, byway leaders, and others involved with managing visual quality along byways. * Goal: Produce a manual and workshop capable of detailing the background and various topics related to visual quality, visitor experience and scenic conservation along a byway. * Intensity: The publication and workshop thoroughly discussed the background of visual quality and provided a detailed outline for conducting the workshop. * Duration: Self-directed, four-step workshop conducted onsite at various locations. * Product: A 179-page publication and workshop outline that can be delivered onsite. * Outcome: The manual was distributed to all byways requesting a copy. All workshop attendees received a copy. Workshops were conducted in Arkansas, Idaho, Delaware, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Florida and New Mexico, with a total of 168 participants and 2,336 contact hours. * Continued Use: Any current requests are filled with remaining stock. Making the Grassroots Grow: Building and Maintaining Effective Byway Organizations Publication - 2003 This printed and digitized publication produced by America's Byways Resource Center presents basic organizational concepts, case studies and best practices from the National Scenic Byways Program. Specific discussions and exercises focus on partnerships, structure and group dynamics. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway practitioners, byway leaders, and State and Tribal byway program coordinators. * Goal: To provide tools and strategies covering basic organizational concepts to increase the sustainability and effectiveness of byway groups. * Intensity: Self-directed study, in most cases; primarily intended for readers with beginner or intermediate knowledge of the subject. * Duration: Self-directed study, in most cases. * Product: A 275-page printed version, also published as a digital CD version and offered online in a digital version. * Outcome: Byway Specialists direct byway practitioners to this publication, including newly designated byway organizations. It has also become a reference for other training work, including Byways 101. Data shows 880 hard copies and 994 digital copies have been distributed. * Continued Use: Elements of the publication are used in providing technical assistance to byways working to improve their organizational effectiveness. Most widely used is “Your Structure.” As a printed and digitized resource, it continues to offer potential for reference material. Table Of Contents (PDF, .txt) Preface (PDF, .txt) Your Purpose (PDF, .txt) Your Partners (PDF, .txt) Your Structure (PDF, .txt) Your Group Dynamics (PDF, .txt) Your Plan (PDF, .txt) Appendix (PDF, .txt) Training Materials (PDF, .txt) From Milestones to Mile-Markers: Understanding Historic Roads Publication - 2003 Commissioned and produced by America's Byways Resource Center, this publication provides information to help local byway organizations understand and manage a scenic byway with historic intrinsic qualities and resources. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway practitioners involved with byways possessing historic intrinsic qualities or features. * Goal: To provide a case study of historic inventory, analysis and preservation techniques. * Intensity: Self-directed study, primarily for readers with beginner or intermediate knowledge of the subject. * Duration: Self-directed study. * Product: A 216-page printed publication. * Outcome: All State and Tribal offices have a copy. A total of 1,553 copies have been distributed. * Continued Use: America's Byways Resource Center hosted a two-part webinar series highlighting the publication and demonstrating how to use the resource for inventory analysis along a byway corridor. The publication was also featured at two Historic Roads Conferences, and Byways Specialists use the book when working with byway corridors that possess historic intrinsic qualities. As a printed resource, it continues to offer potential for reference material. America's Byways And Intelligent Transportation Systems: An Introduction To ITS Publication - 2001 An electronic booklet produced by America's Byways Resource Center that introduced Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to the byway community to help increase awareness of ITS in byway organizations; demonstrated how ITS could be used to address byway-related issues; and provided resources and suggested next steps for incorporating ITS solutions into byway initiatives. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway practitioners, byway leaders, and others seeking to learn more about the various ITS applications on byways. * Goal: Produce a report capable of detailing the background, and various topics surrounding ITS and its applicability to a byway. * Intensity: The publication introduced the concept of ITS and how byway communities could use this technology to address byway-related issues. * Duration: Self-directed. * Product: A 29-page electronic publication on CD that reviewed the ITS background, applications, devices, and support organizations that have used ITS technology. * Outcome: The publication was distributed to all byways requesting a copy. 1,000 copies of the CD were produced. * Continued Use: The publication is no longer available. Lessons From The Road Publication - 1998 The National Scenic Byways Program of FHWA and the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service collaborated to produce a series featuring lessons learned by scenic byway advocates across the country. The lessons apply to many scenic byway initiatives. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway practitioners, byway leaders, and others desiring to review and apply lessons proven to be successful from throughout the collection. * Goal: Provide a series of useful, workable, successful lessons that benefit individual byways. * Intensity: Self-directed study, primarily for readers with beginner or intermediate knowledge of the subject. * Duration: Self-directed study. * Product: A series of twelve six-page fold out publications covering various topics of byway improvement and delivery of visitor positive experience. * Outcome: All byways received the series with the initial printing. Presently, Byways Specialists refer byway organizations to the digital version. * Continued Use: Byway Specialists use various issues in the series as topics for byway improvement and direct byway leaders and others to the digital versions for additional resources. Lessons From The Road Tools America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program have sought to develop and implement learning opportunities that support an essential knowledge base among byway community members for planning and managing their respective byway corridor's intrinsic qualities. This work is accomplished through content provided on www.bywaysresourcecenter.org, on-demand learning via webcasts and podcasts, print-and-go materials, and other publications. Vistas Publication 1997 - Present A bimonthly publication distributed via standard mail and e-mail to approximately 5,000 byway community members and other stakeholders. Each issue is also accessible online. Produced by America's Byways Resource Center, each edition contains training, resources and news of interest to the byway community. Work Synopsis * Goal: To provide tools and resources on byway-specific topics to the byway community. * Intensity: Articles focus on the four core learning areas: byway organization, finances, visitor experience and corridor management. Most articles and tools contain beginner and intermediate level content, and direct the reader to other resources and tools available on www.bywaysresourcecenter.org or other websites. * Duration: The publication began in 1997 and was produced on a monthly basis until it was issued bimonthly in 2003. * Product: Each issue is a 12- to 16-page printed publication; since November 2009, an HTML electronic version has been distributed via e-mail to opt-in readers. PDF and HTML formats of all past and current issues are available on www.bywaysresourcecenter.org. * Outcome: A resource for byway organizations to share successes and challenges with their peers, and learn practical applications in core content areas from Byways Specialists and other experts. * Continued Use: Byways Specialists at the America's Byways Resource Center continue to use and refer practitioners to the tools and articles in Vistas as they provide technical assistance to byway groups in the field. Vistas Byways Bulletin 2004 - Present A bimonthly publication distributed via e-mail to approximately 4,000 byway community members and other stakeholders. Each issue is also accessible online. Produced by the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program, each edition contains time-sensitive legislative, grant and marketing news of interest to the byway community. Work Synopsis * Audience: State coordinators, Tribal coordinators, byway leaders, byway volunteers, and stakeholders. Interested parties can register to receive the newsletter at www.bywaysonline.org. * Goal: To share time-sensitive legislative, grant and marketing news of interest to the byway community. * Intensity: Each issue contains five to eight articles containing links where readers can find additional information. * Duration: The Byways Bulletin has been distributed on an approximate bimonthly basis since May 2004. * Product: An HTML-based e-newsletter distributed to approximately 4,126 e-mail addresses. Past and current newsletters are available for viewing on www.bywaysonline.org. * Outcome: No quantifiable data is available, but an evaluation of the communications tool is planned for 2010. * Continued Use: All past and present issues of the bulletin are archived and available on www.bywaysonline.org. Byways Bulletin Discussion Forum 2004 - Present The FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program website hosts a variety of online discussion forums about byway-relevant topics. Byway leaders, volunteers and other stakeholders participate in these forums and share their experiences and expertise to learn from each other beyond the training, resources and tools that FHWA and America's Byways Resource Center provide. Work Synopsis * Audience: The byway community, byway stakeholders, consultants, FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program staff, and America's Byways Resource Center staff. * Goal: To provide an opportunity for the byway community to share expertise on byway topics. * Intensity: The forum identifies 12 topic areas where the byway community can post questions, answers, RFPs, job opportunities and more. * Duration: The forum was created in April 2004, and approximately 800 messages have been posted to date. * Product: An online message board, moderated by National Scenic Byways Online staff. Subscribers receive e-mail notifications when a new message has been posted to the forum. * Outcome: Increased networking among the byway community. * Continued Use: Posts are not deleted, so visitors can continue to view discussions that have taken place over the years. Discussion Forums Scenic Byway Awards 2009, 2007, 2003, 2001 A partnership with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and America's Byways Resource Center has recognized model byway projects for selected categories in 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2009. Work Synopsis * Audience: State coordinators, Tribal coordinators, byway leaders, and byway volunteers. * Goal: To share successful elements of model byway projects with the greater byway community. * Intensity: A publication produced for each edition of the competition offers brief overviews, photographs and successful elements of the award-winning projects. To encourage networking among the byway community, the contact information for each project is provided for obtaining additional project information. * Duration: The details of the award winning projects continue to be available on www.bywaysresourcecenter.org. * Product: Full-color publications highlight award-winning projects. Projects were also announced, celebrated and showcased at poster discussion sessions during the National Scenic Byways Conference. * Outcome: Recognition of successful byway projects and increased networking. * Continued Use: Award-winning projects from the 2009 and 2007 awards programs will be included in the upcoming Byway Projects Database, which is searchable by project category, project type, State and more. 2009 Award Winners 2007 Award Winners 2003 Award Winners 2001 Award Winners Websites America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program provide relevant content and manage three websites, which are segmented by intended audience and use: Byways.org (1996), BywaysOnline.org (1996), and BywaysResourceCenter.org (2007). Digital analytics, derived from sources such as Google Analytics, offer tools for evaluating usage for each site. Combined, the websites serve to provide global marketing of America's Byways(R), support and train the byway community, publish FHWA information and maintain an inventory of all U.S. byways. Work Synopsis for Byways.org * Audience: The traveling public and media. * Goal: To provide information, images, facts and driving routes for all 151 America's Byways(R) to potential travelers and the media. * Intensity: For January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: Total page views is 18,315,032. The percentage of unique visits to the website is 74%, with an average of 1.35 visits per visitor. Average pages per visit is 6.93. From these statistics, a comparison to the same period two years prior, for example, shows increases in all areas except time spent on the site; however, overall the findings indicate incremental growth in public awareness and user accessibility of the site. * Duration: For January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: Total average time on the site is 249 seconds. From these statistics, a comparison to the same period two years prior, for example, shows a decrease in duration of 45 seconds, indicating perhaps that users are finding information more quickly. * Product: An information-rich website, managed by National Scenic Byways Online at Utah State in cooperation with FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program. * Outcome: This site has generated interest in America's Byways among potential vehicular visitors as well as from the media. * Continued Use: The analytics research shows continued growth among users, indicating that the site is providing relevant information to the intended audience. www.byways.org Work Synopsis for BywaysOnline.org * Audience: The Byway community as it seeks information about grants, designation nominations, discussion forums, U.S. byway inventory, and national marketing. * Goal: To provide an online portal closely affiliated with FHWA for information specifically related to time-sensitive activities, such as submitting an application for national designation or grant funding, as well as offering a venue for peer-to-peer exchanges. * Intensity: For January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: Total pageviews is 1,107,128. Average pages per visit is 8.61. The percentage of unique visits to the website is 54%, with an average of 1.85 visits per visitor. From these statistics, a comparison to the same period two years prior, for example, shows increases in all areas that substantiate incremental growth in user accessibility of the site. * Duration: For January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: Total average time on the site is 392 minutes. From these statistics, a comparison to the same period two years prior, for example, shows an increase in duration of 29 seconds, indicating that users are finding more relevant content to explore. * Product: An information-rich website, managed by National Scenic Byways Online at Utah State in cooperation with FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program. * Outcome: This site has generated 202 nomination submissions for designation and 3,268 grant submissions, as well as 800 entries in the Discussion Forums. * Continued Use: The analytics research shows continued growth among users, indicating that the site is providing relevant information to the intended audience. www.bywaysonline.org Work Synopsis for BywaysResourceCenter.org * Audience: Byway leaders, State and Tribal coordinators, and byway volunteers. * Goal: To provide training, resources, tools and news to the byway community on topics critical to byway success. * Intensity: For January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: Total pageviews is 95,046. Average pages per visit is 3.63. The percentage of new visitors to the site is 38.45, or 61.55% returning visitors. From these statistics, a comparison to the same period two years prior, for example, shows increases in nearly all areas except average number of pages per visit, helping to substantiate incremental growth in user accessibility and familiarity of the site (returning visitors do not visit as many pages, since they know where to look for their information). The most common visits occurred in content related to events, resources, staff, or topics. * Duration: For January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009: Total average time on the site is 2:42 minutes. A comparison to the same period two years prior shows that visitors spent an average of 5:24 minutes at the site. This could indicate that users are finding more relevant content more quickly than before. * Product: An information-rich website, managed by America's Byways Resource Center. * Outcome: This site has become a repository of information, tools and other resources that includes over 1,085 pages of relevant byway information. * Continued Use: The analytics research shows continued growth among users, indicating that the site is providing relevant information to the intended audience. www.bywaysresourcecenter.org Map Booklets/Brochures Publication - 2000 to Present The FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program produced a 125-page map booklet containing facts, maps and description for America's Byways(R). The booklet is free to the public, and requests are accepted via www.byways.org. Work Synopsis * Audience: The traveling public and media. * Goal: To provide a printed user-friendly guide to America's Byways(R), including maps, facts and descriptions of all of the nationally designated byways through 2005, organized by region. * Intensity: Self-guided material. * Duration: Self-guided material. * Product: A brochure-sized, user-friendly guide, featuring the America's Byways collection through the 2005 designations. The booklet includes maps, facts and descriptions of all of the nationally designated byways, listed by region. * Outcome: Total number of map booklets/brochures that have been distributed since 2000: 525,094. * Continued Use: As printed material, the maps provide ongoing reference material. National Scenic Byways Marketing Toolkit Publication - 2000 A toolkit designed to provide a relevant reference guide for byways to transition from product development to a marketing implementation plan. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway leaders, State and Tribal coordinators, byway marketing contacts and byway community members. * Goal: To provide marketing technical assistance to byways seeking to create their own marketing strategies. The toolkit was designed to provide a relevant reference guide for byways to transition from product development to a marketing implementation plan. * Intensity: The National Scenic Byways Program Marketing Committee provided guidance in developing the topics. * Duration: No quantifiable data exists; however, the toolkit continues to serve as a reference for developing or enhancing new training, articles and tools. * Product: 500 copies produced and distributed to nationally designated byways. * Outcome: No quantifiable data exists. * Continued Use: The tool, while still relevant, is no longer available for distribution. However, trainings and articles produced by the America's Byways Resource Center over the years have been based on concepts from the toolkit. Byway Beginnings Publication - 1999 Produced by the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program, this publication provides the byway community with information on how to conduct an inventory and evaluation of a byway's intrinsic qualities. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway leaders, State and Tribal coordinators, and byway community members. * Goal: To provide the byway community with information on how to conduct an inventory and evaluation of a byway's intrinsic qualities. * Intensity: Self-study, in most cases. * Duration: Self-study, in most cases. * Product: An 80-page publication containing worksheets for each chapter. 5,000 copies were produced and distributed to State coordinators and byway leaders. It was produced in partnership with the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program and NPS-Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program. * Outcome: No quantifiable data exists. * Continued Use: Most information in this publication, which is no longer available, is still relevant today. Much of the content was woven into the Byways 101 online self-study course produced by the America's Byways Resource Center in Spring 2009. Evaluation America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program evaluate their products and services through formal surveys and through less formal means, such as the facilitated Open Space Forum discussions. Efforts are also made to document case studies of successful byway projects where strategies can be used in part or adapted to work on other byways across the country. America's Byways Resource Center Evaluation Expected 2010 A comprehensive customer satisfaction survey on the delivery of products and services to America's Byways, State and Tribal coordinators and national byway leaders. Work Synopsis * Audience: Leadership and staff of the America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program. * Goal: To provide America's Byways Resource Center and the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program a measurement of customer satisfaction regarding products and services. * Intensity: Currently underway. * Duration: Currently underway. * Product: An internal report of survey results and an Executive Summary. * Outcome: America's Byways Resource Center leadership and staff will use the results to adjust future efforts regarding the delivery of technical assistance, training offerings and resources for the byway community. * Continued Use: The work is expected to serve as a reference and benchmark for ongoing work and future evaluations. Open Space Forum 2009 - Present A guided discussion format introduced at the 2009 National Scenic Byways Conference in Denver, Colorado, generated observations, insights, concerns and hopes related to the National Scenic Byways Program from conference participants. Input continues to be collected via an Open Space Wiki. Work Synopsis * Audience: Open Space Forum audience consisted of 2009 National Scenic Byways Conference participants. The Open Space Wiki is intended for the broader byway community interested in continuing the conversations that began at the conference. * Goal: To provide an organized method of collaboration among conference participants to identify needs and opportunities for the future of the National Scenic Byways Program. The Open Space Wiki allows discussions to continue among the broader byway community via the Web. While the Wiki site was designed by America's Byways Resource Center, it operates as an open-space environment that is not managed or regulated by the Resource Center. A small group of byway community members now manage the process. * Intensity: Discussion was initiated at the conference using 35 different questions pertaining to five topics areas: Program Administration, Byway Organization, Corridor Management, Visitor Experience and Finances. * Duration: At the conference, participants were encouraged to visit new topic stations every 15 minutes, for a total session time of 2.5 hours. * Product: An Open Space Wiki has been established to give the byway community an opportunity to review comments and continue the discussions started at the conference. * Outcome: A sense of shared purpose and ownership among the byway community in identifying needs and opportunities for the National Scenic Byways Program into the future. * Continued Use: The Open Space Wiki is a place where these conversations, ideas and suggestions can continue online. Open Space Wiki Media Clips 2008 - Present The America's Byways Resource Center collects data to document media coverage relating to the National Scenic Byways Program and America's Byways(R), and compiles reports on a quarterly basis. Work Synopsis * Audience: The America's Byways Resource Center compiles reports on media hits to include in quarterly reports for the Federal Highway Administration. The information is collected for the purpose of measuring current media coverage relating to America's Byways. * Goal: Following the launch of a potential partnership marketing campaign, this baseline data will enable the America's Byways Resource Center to measure change in media coverage over time, therefore providing a measurement of success. * Intensity: On an average month, there are approximately 100 legitimate media hits relating to America's Byways, a specific America's Byway, or the National Scenic Byways Program. The number of hits increases in months where grants are announced or new byways are designated by the Secretary of Transportation. * Duration: Since October 2008, media hits have been collected on a daily basis and reported quarterly. * Product: Quarterly reports to FHWA. * Outcome: Media clips provide a measurable outcome of interest in byway activity. The clip reports also provide a baseline for comparing media coverage to assess success of future public awareness efforts. * Continued Use: The America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program can review the media hits and identify opportunities for strengthening public awareness efforts in the future. Q4 2009 (PDF, .txt) Q3 2009 (PDF, .txt) Q2 2009 (PDF, .txt) Q1 2009 (PDF, .txt) Q4 2008 (PDF, .txt) Success Stories Publication - 2001 A synopsis of “best practices” from designated routes, the publication was produced with input from FHWA and State coordinators by America's Byways Resource Center for use by byway leaders and byway community members. Work Synopsis * Audience: Byway leaders, State and Tribal coordinators, and byway community members. * Goal: To share byway success stories and “best practices” with the byway practitioners that could apply to work on their own byways. * Intensity: Self-directed study. * Duration: Self-directed study. * Product: A 44-page, full-color book highlighting 25 projects. * Outcome: Approximately 150 copies were printed and distributed to the byway community. The book celebrated and shared best practices with the greater byway community. * Continued Use: As a printed resource, it continues to offer potential for reference material. America's Byways Resource Center Evaluation 2001 An Executive Summary of an internal progress report compiled by an independent contractor on the success and challenges of the America's Byways Resource Center, the Federal Highway Administration - National Scenic Byways Program and the future of nationally designated byways. Work Synopsis * Audience: Leadership and staff of the America's Byways Resource Center and FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program. * Goal: To provide America's Byways Resource Center and the FHWA-National Scenic Byways Program a measurement of customer satisfaction regarding products and services. * Intensity: No quantifiable data is available. * Duration: Survey conducted in September 2001 regarding the first two years of the Resource Center's work. * Product: An internal report of survey results and an Executive Summary. * Outcome: America's Byways Resource Center leadership and staff used the results to adjust future efforts regarding technical assistance, training offerings and resources for the byway community. * Continued Use: While the majority of the evaluation was most useful to the newly established organization, the work can also serve as a reference and preliminary benchmark for future evaluations.