The Census Bureau developed the 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour as a supplement to the 2010 Census Integrated Communications Program to further promote census participation throughout the nation. The road tour was implemented by the Census 2010 Publicity Office, Public Information Office, Field Partnership and Data Services Branch, and the 12 Census Bureau regional offices. There were 13 vehicles, one for each of the 12 regional offices and one national vehicle. The vehicles were specifically designed to educate, engage, and encourage participation across the entire population. The road tour delivered an interactive experience integrated with the rest of the communication efforts through the use of common images and digital media as it aimed to reach hard-to-count populations in their communities. Messaging included in the tour materials affirmed that census participation was safe, easy, and important.

The road tour brought the 2010 Census to towns and cities across the country, generating grassroots efforts, encouraging neighborhood events, and garnering media attention. The vehicles traveled to festivals, sporting events, schools, libraries, housing projects, and street corners throughout the United States. The following highlights a few of the events visited by the road tour:

• Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade
• Macon's Cherry Blossom Parade
• San Antonio's Tijuana Music Awards Fan Fair
• Gold Cup Soccer Championship
• San Diego African American Heritage Festival
• Rosebud Indian Reservation (also shown on "Today in South Dakota")
• An unveiling of the "Census Mural" painted by a student from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
• Cambodian New Year celebration in Long Beach
• Interfaith breakfast attended by 1,000 ministers in Chicago
• Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Relief Village in Rocky Mount,  North Carolina
• The Today Show
• National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Daytona 500
• Denver Pow Wow
• San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade
• National Collegiate Athletic Assocation Final Four
• Atlanta’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Parade

Some major recommendations for planning the 2020 Census are:

Planning Stage

• Develop detailed itineraries during the planning stage to identify critical or key events for the itineraries and then build from there in order to maximize exposure and visibility.
• The Census Bureau should develop a master schedule for the road tour (that includes all regions) and assign a master scheduler within the regions to manage the itineraries. An example of what an itinerary should look like (template) should be provided well in advance. It should also have in place a centralized point of contact for ROs to work with and handle road tour schedule issues. Additionally, the Census Bureau should have a workshop on itinerary building.
• Early assessment of venues and determination of permitting needs will help enable flexibility of scheduling for contractor, regional offices, and National road tour events.
• Clearly define and communicate the roles and responsibilities for all Census Bureau participants in the Road Tour Program.
• Provide Census Bureau staff with a “Road Tour 101” session early to help to educate all involved.
• Secure partnerships early to allow for greater integration into the road tour.
• Develop road tour metrics for all major aspects of the road tour during the planning phase.
• Determine insurance limitations and regulations/law prior in the planning phase before making decisions on creative elements, vehicles, etc.

Implementation Stage

• Have a back-up plan in the event of an equipment failure, inclement weather, and other issues to ensure that creative elements can function regardless of the weather and have a risk management plan as it helps with dealing with real time issues and adjust plan of actions.
• Reduce the size of road tour vehicles based on the 2010 Census Road Tour or provide vehicles appropriate to regional needs. One size does not fit all.
• Give regions more control of their road tour. Use the model of those regions who did their own road tour.
• Include materials on the road tour in the languages that the questionnaire is available.

Ongoing

• Road tour should be a standard program of the decennial census with a contractor to help develop and implement it.
• Provide training for contractor staff on census operations and the different protocols in the field (i.e. working with American Indian and Alaska Native populations).