EMBARGOED UNTIL 12:01 A.M. EST, FEBRUARY, 15, 2000 (TUESDAY)
Decennial Media Relations CB00-CN.14
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e-mail: 2000usa@census.gov
Road Tour Aims at Increasing Census 2000 Participation
Census 2000 went on the road today.
Twelve Road Tour Vehicles (RTVs), "wrapped" in colorful census
graphics, pulled out of cities across America in simultaneous, 60-day
quests to motivate people to participate in Census 2000. Along the planned
itineraries, the RTVs and the exhibits they carry will make thousands of
appearances from county fairs and ethnic festivals to St. Patrick's Day
parades and Major League Baseball opening days.
"The Census 2000 Road Tour will carry the census message to big cities
and small towns alike," said Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt. "It
is part of the most aggressive grassroots campaign ever mounted to promote
census participation."
The Census 2000 Road Tour, "How America Knows What America Needs," is
designed to dovetail with a step-up in the Census Bureau's paid
advertising campaign leading up to Census Day, April 1. The Census Bureau
will begin mailing or delivering questionnaires to about 118
million
housing units in mid-March.
Each RTV, with two drivers on board, is equipped with promotional
videos, five kiosk-like, portable exhibits in multiple languages and boxes
of promotional materials balloons, lapel pins, buttons, pens, pencils and
refrigerator magnets to remind people the census is coming and to fill out
their forms.
The vehicles will travel throughout the country, stopping mostly at
small community events. They also will visit hard-to-enumerate areas.
Tentative stops include the Grammy Music Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 23,
the Final Four Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis on April 2-3 and a
funeral procession "to bury the undercount" in Asheville, N.C., on April
1. Other events where the Census 2000 vehicles are scheduled to make
appearances are the Kumba Festival in San Diego on Feb. 18 and several
powwows on American Indian reservations. Map updates on the Census 2000
RTVs' progress will be posted on the Internet at the Census Bureau's Web
site .
The RTVs will be met at some stops by high-ranking Census Bureau
officials from the regions and headquarters, including Prewitt.
"The Road Tour underscores our belief that Census 2000 is a national
civic celebration, the first of the new millennium," said Prewitt. "We
want to tell people, by our presence at all of these local community
activities, that the census is important, that it is how government knows
where taxpayer money should be spent and what public services are needed."
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The Census Bureau needs the help of local residents to conduct Census
2000. Job opportunities include census taker positions in communities and
neighborhoods and office work. A large number of part-time positions are
available. For more information on census jobs in your area, call
toll-free 1-888-325-7733.
The Census Bureau guarantees that the answers given on census forms are
kept strictly confidential. Information collected in Census 2000 will
provide local area data needed for communities to receive federal program
funds and for private sector and community planning.
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