Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have eliminated all billboards and their tourism thrives. Not only are they costly but they have been rendered obsolete by new approaches to marketing. There are alternatives that work. The most common are logo signs which are small directional signs provided by the state such as the ones we now have on I-240 in Asheville. These signs provide only essential information for the driver and are in a less obtrusive form than billboards since they are small, near the roadway and are at the driver s eye-level.
Highways provide the drivers eyes, which give billboards their value.
However, the travelers are the only ones who pay the taxes for the roads. Billboards do not pay any highway taxes. Let s keep our money at home. A recent survey showed that 60 percent of the top billboard users were alcohol and tobacco manufacturers. The courts have consistently sided with the counties and cities on questions of billboard regulation.