This record contains the following reports: 1. Some effects of highway beautification, Floyd Thiel and John Yasnowsky, p. 1-15 Carrying out the congressional request for an economic impact study of the highway beautification act has resulted in an overall analysis of the effects of the act based largely on 25 studies in various states. The impact of the act was estimated using study and control area comparisons, before and after period comparisons, industry trend analysis, attitude surveys, case studies, county input- output model, and by analogizing from known experience. The overall impact of the act should be fairly minor, though certain groups will experience a more pronounced effect. Outdoor advertising companies may experience some losses during the time of adjustment to the act. Motorists will experience increased pleasure, comfort, convenience, and safety. Very few motorists will experience problems in locating highway services. Highway-oriented businesses will in some cases lose trade and in others gain, since billboard controls should have little effect on total demand for gas, food, and lodging. Some landowners will experience land value increases (e. G., from sign or junkyard removal nearby), though some sign site owners will lose rental income. The effects of junkyard control will be felt primarily by owners of junkyards which need to be relocated. Screening will have little effect, though some benefits may accrue to screened junkyards and property nearby. Scenic enhancement effects will be felt by motorists - in the form of increased driving pleasure - and by landowners who will realize some increases in property values near scenically enhanced highways. /author/. 2. Attitudes and shopper mobility in a small city, Allan Goodwin, p. 16-26The decentralization of retail trade or shift in activity from the central business district (cbd) to suburban areas has been a strong trend for the past two decades. Cities under 50,000 in population faced with the problem of decentralization are in a unique position. Different shopping trip patterns, greater dependence on the private automobile, and strong retail competition from metropolitan areas that are now more accessible due to new and improved highway systems make approaches to studying the decentralization problem somewhat different. This study compared shopper attitudes in a small city to those in larger cities so that differences in attitudes peculiar to the size of the city could be found. Shopper attitudes are generally held to be the key factors in determining preferences for shopping areas. Data published by the hrb in its 1955 project parking in relation to business was used as a basis for comparing attitudes. This study was also concerned with habits, use of the small cbd, and shopper mobility to places away from the small city. Parking was considered the most important disadvantage of the cbd in the small and in the larger cities, but inadequate parking in the larger cbd's was minimized or negated by the possession of more important advantages. Advantages of the small city cbs were not as decisive as those in the larger cities. In general, the advantages of the small city suburban areas were positive considerations rather than the negative factors of the cbd as they were in the larger cities. Shoppers were classified on the basis of demographic characteristics and were shown to be oriented toward an area by virtue of their attitudes and their buying behavior. Small city cbd shoppers tended to be older, be persons of modest means, or be persons in the upper income levels. Suburban shoppers were generally in the middle groups in terms of age, education, income, and family composition characteristics. Estimates of purchases of shopping goods items indicated substantial shopper mobility from the small city. A group of shoppers evidencing high mobility was composed of younger, higher income, and white collar employed persons. /author/. 3. A valuation of information sources and cues by motorist-traveler guests of lodging establishments, Charles T. Moore, Morris L. Mayer, and Joseph B. Mason, p. 27-32 One of the specific requirements of the highway beautification act of 1965 was to ascertain the effects of signboard regulation, control, and /or removal on consumer- travel choices -- especially transients' choices. The research technique utilized to determine attitudes or judgments concerning the importance of information sources and cues to individuals was the paired comparison technique devised by leon l. Thurstone. This psychometric research technique permitted comparisons by an individual of the characteristics of an advertising medium, but more importantly, the technique allowed inter-media comparisons. Both media and media-non-media comparisons were obtained and analyzed for respondents who were familiar with the general metropolitan area and for those who were not familiar with the area. The findings of the research were as follows: (1) physical appearance of the lodging establishment was considered the most important information source, (2) off- premise commercial billboards ranked second in a set of six media-oriented information sources for the entire sample as well as for those travelers not familiar with the area, (3) when the paired comparisons were expanded to include ten media and non-media-oriented sources, billboards dropped to sixth position, and (4) the importance of non-media-oriented information sources to motorist travelers is evidenced by the fact that advice of individuals, referral services, and reservation services outranked all of the media-oriented information sources. /author/. 4. Public attitudes toward transport modes; a summary of two pilot studies, Allan N. Nash and Stanley J. Hille, p. 33-46 This paper summarizes attitudinal research conducted over the past three years by a university of maryland research team. Objectives were (1) to identify and assess the importance of attributes of an ideal transportation system by measuring consumer attitudes, and (2) to determine how satisfied these consumers are with existing systems in terms of these attributes. A distinct finding of preference for private modes was identified, although substantial variability existed among the attributes studied. An interesting trichotomous response pattern evolved when data were distributed and analyzed along demographic and trip characteristic dimensions. /author/.
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