Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MARGIE DONLON, M.D.
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Rest Stop Tourism Display Program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning highway rest stop local tourism displays and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Division of Travel and Tourism in the Department of State a Rest Stop Tourism Display Program. The division shall coordinate with the Department of Transportation, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, destination marketing organizations, and businesses to install temporary informational displays promoting tourism attractions and locations near highway rest stops. The displays shall be temporary and the length of time the display is offered shall be determined jointly by the division and the appropriate highway rest stop transportation authority. The displays may include, but need not be limited to, an informational exhibit, free informational materials that may be taken by visitors at the rest stop, and materials sold by owners of local tourism attractions and destinations.
b. Destination marketing organizations and businesses shall be permitted to propose the installation of displays at highway rest stops. The Division of Travel and Tourism shall publish information on the division’s Internet website detailing how to apply to install a temporary informational display at a nearby highway rest stop.
c. Every six months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the South Jersey Transportation Authority and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority shall submit to the Department of Transportation and to the Division of Travel and Tourism a list of planned and existing displays at highway rest stops for the following six months.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a Rest Stop Tourism Display Program in the Division of Travel and Tourism.
Under the bill, the division will coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOT), the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA), the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA), destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and businesses to install temporary informational displays promoting tourism attractions and locations near highway rest stops. The displays will be temporary and the length of time the display is offered will be determined jointly by the division and the appropriate highway rest stop transportation authority. The displays may include, but will not be limited to, an informational exhibit, free informational materials that may be taken by visitors at the rest stop, and materials sold by owners of local tourism attractions and destinations.
The bill permits DMOs and businesses to propose the installation of displays at highway rest stops. The division will publish information on the division’s Internet website detailing how to apply to install a temporary informational display at a nearby highway rest stop.
The bill requires that every six months after the effective date of the bill, the SJTA and the NJTA will submit to the DOT and to the division a list of planned and existing displays at highway rest stops for the following six months.