WEBVTT - What Gets Featured on Blue Highway Signs?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogabam Here. If you've ever driven on

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<v Speaker 1>an American highway, you know them. The big blue signs

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<v Speaker 1>near interstate exits showing travelers the nearest gas, food, and

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<v Speaker 1>hotel or motel options. They're officially called interstate logo signs

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<v Speaker 1>or specific service signs, but the place is featured aren't random.

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<v Speaker 1>A Scoring a spot on these signs boosts profits for

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<v Speaker 1>many companies and for the states to control them. As

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<v Speaker 1>of twenty nineteen, Tennessee napped about eight million dollars per

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<v Speaker 1>year and Virginia got about six million thanks to the signs.

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<v Speaker 1>For the article, this episode is based on How's to Work.

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<v Speaker 1>Spoke by email with Jenny Campana, spokesperson for the Nebraska

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Transportation. She said, all highway signs serve as

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<v Speaker 1>specific purpose and their color is how you can easily

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<v Speaker 1>tell what the signs purposes, direction information regulations, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 1>These signs, in particular, are blue or informational signs are

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<v Speaker 1>regardless of what state you drive through. If you see

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<v Speaker 1>a blue sign, it's going to provide helpful information to

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<v Speaker 1>motorists as they travel along their way. There are three

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<v Speaker 1>basic types of blue logo signs. First, mainline, which is

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<v Speaker 1>the first one you see. It lets you know certain

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<v Speaker 1>services are nearby. These are bigger than you might have thought,

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<v Speaker 1>typically about nineteen feet that's six ms wide by about

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<v Speaker 1>ten ft or three ms high. The second type of

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<v Speaker 1>blue sign is the ramp. This is closer to the

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<v Speaker 1>exit and indicates whether you turn right or left at

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<v Speaker 1>the end of the off ramp. Businesses that are clearly

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<v Speaker 1>visible from the exit might not qualify for a ramp sign.

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<v Speaker 1>And finally, there's the trailblazer. This last and smallest sign

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<v Speaker 1>is placed at each corner where drivers should turn in

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<v Speaker 1>order to reach the business. Only certain types of businesses

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<v Speaker 1>can advertise on the logo sign lines gas stations, restaurants, lodging,

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<v Speaker 1>and attractions. Houst Works also spoke with Mark Nagy, a

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<v Speaker 1>spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. He said the

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<v Speaker 1>attraction category was added later for tourist attractions. In general,

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<v Speaker 1>the businesses need to be within five miles or eight

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers of a freeway exit, except attractions can be within

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen miles or twenty four kilometers, and they have to

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<v Speaker 1>be open to the general public during normal business hours.

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<v Speaker 1>Each state sets its own criteria, but usually the businesses

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<v Speaker 1>listed must have public restrooms, drinking water, and public phones.

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<v Speaker 1>Those that are open around the clock sometimes get priority

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<v Speaker 1>over those that are open for fewer hours of the day,

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<v Speaker 1>and distance from the highway may count in some states too.

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<v Speaker 1>In Florida, for instance, priority is given to businesses less

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<v Speaker 1>than three miles that's five kilometers from the exit, though

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<v Speaker 1>those up to six miles about nine and a half

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers from the exit are eligible for inclusion. Attractions like museums, wineries,

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<v Speaker 1>aggri tourism sites, and zoos are eligible for sign placement too,

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<v Speaker 1>but not churches, movie theaters, and adult oriented entertainment venues.

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<v Speaker 1>Applying to be featured is easy these days, you just

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<v Speaker 1>fill out a form online, but now being a spot

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<v Speaker 1>is another story. Some businesses wait for years to get

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<v Speaker 1>a spot. In some urban locations. House to Works also

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<v Speaker 1>spoke with Tracy Bramble, an information specialist for the Iowa

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Transportation. She said in the urban areas, it

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<v Speaker 1>can be difficult to secure a spot on the blue

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<v Speaker 1>motorist service signs or logo signs because they often fill

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<v Speaker 1>up to capacity. There's a limit of six spots on

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<v Speaker 1>the signs. She adds that all signs have to be

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<v Speaker 1>spaced at least eight hundred feet that's about two apart,

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<v Speaker 1>and must be placed directly in advance of the interchange

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<v Speaker 1>where the business can be accessed. Green and white guide signs,

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<v Speaker 1>that is for cities, highways, and major destinations of interest,

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<v Speaker 1>have a higher priority classification, So where interchanges are des

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<v Speaker 1>signed closely together, there may not be enough room to

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<v Speaker 1>install the blue logo sign and still maintain the spacing required,

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<v Speaker 1>and even if space is available, it can be pricey.

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<v Speaker 1>In Nebraska, for example, it's a thousand, two hundred dollars

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<v Speaker 1>per year per sign, so if you want to cover

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<v Speaker 1>exits in both directions, it would cost you two thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred per year. In Tennessee, the prices around nine

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<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars in urban areas and six fifty in rural

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<v Speaker 1>locations per direction. New Jersey, meanwhile, can be as high

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<v Speaker 1>as two thousand, four hundred in each direction. If you're

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<v Speaker 1>a nonprofit organization, you'll receive a discounted rate. In some states,

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<v Speaker 1>but in some rural areas, the blue signs often feature

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<v Speaker 1>plenty of open spaces, causing drastic price declines. In Iowa,

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<v Speaker 1>you can snag spots for as little as two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and thirty dollars in the right areas, according to Bramble.

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<v Speaker 1>She explained in Iowa, the fees charged are not commingled

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<v Speaker 1>with other road user fees, but are earmarked specifically for

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<v Speaker 1>outdoor advertising control purposes, including the administration of the logo

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<v Speaker 1>signing program. Some states hire private contractors to run the program,

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<v Speaker 1>who are then allowed to set their own price structures.

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<v Speaker 1>Iowa has reinstated its state run program and has avoided

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<v Speaker 1>raising fees since. The biggest private contractor in the business

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<v Speaker 1>is a company called Interstate Logos, which handles the fabrication

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<v Speaker 1>and installation process for over twenty states around the country.

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<v Speaker 1>It makes most of its money from the sign permits,

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<v Speaker 1>but it also actively markets any unfilled spaces in hopes

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<v Speaker 1>of filling any blank spots on those big blue signs.

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<v Speaker 1>Naggie says that the Tennessee Department of Transportation gets of

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<v Speaker 1>the gross revenue from the contractor it uses. Prices for

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<v Speaker 1>businesses can and do change once a contractor takes over.

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<v Speaker 1>In New Hampshire, for instance, the annual fee rocketed from

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred dollars to one eight hundred dollars per sign,

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<v Speaker 1>drawing ire from some businesses. According to a local newspaper,

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<v Speaker 1>States initially began deploying these signs to provide valuable and

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<v Speaker 1>accurate motorst service information for the traveling public decades ago.

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<v Speaker 1>The signs took on even more importance as Americans began

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<v Speaker 1>to decry the overuse of billboards and so dense were

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<v Speaker 1>these unsightly clusters of commercialization. The President Lyndon B. Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>signed the Highway Beautification Act in October of nineteen sixty five,

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<v Speaker 1>which limited billboard and other outdoor advertising. States also took

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<v Speaker 1>it upon themselves to reduce the number of billboards along

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<v Speaker 1>their roadways. Vermont took things even further, banning billboards outright,

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<v Speaker 1>along with Maine, Hawaii, and Alaska. With limited billboard opportunities,

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<v Speaker 1>companies still needed a way to get the word out,

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<v Speaker 1>so states compromised enter the big blue signs. They provide

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<v Speaker 1>smaller businesses a feasible way to market their service at

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<v Speaker 1>a cost much lower than billboards, and thanks to their standardization,

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<v Speaker 1>they're easy to read as your zipping by at speed.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article who does and

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<v Speaker 1>Doesn't get featured on Blue Highway exit Signs on how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuffworks dot Com written by Nathan Chandler. Brainstuffs production of

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<v Speaker 1>I heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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