Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Highway Safety Network (HSN), the Clinton County Economic Partnership & Visitors Bureau, and State Farm Insurance gathered this morning to commemorate the opening of the Clinton County Traffic Safety Geotrail. This trail, the second of its kind in the state, is one of PennDOT and HSN’s outreach and education programs designed to promote a safety culture, reverse current crash trends and reduce unsafe driving behaviors.
“The safety of people traveling our highways will always be PennDOT’s top priority,” said PennDOT District Executive Tom Zurat from the podium under the William Clinger River Walk Pavilion in Lock Haven. “We’re confident that continued investment in low-cost highway safety improvements and outreach and education programs like this geotrail makes eliminating traffic fatalities by 2050 possible. Programs like this would not be possible without the support of our partnering organizations, and we offer them our thanks and congratulations on their efforts to expand this program.”
According to geocaching.com, “geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices where participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and attempt to find the geocache hidden at that location.” The Clinton County Traffic Safety Geotrail includes 20 geocaches hidden throughout Clinton County. Each geocache has a brochure on a different traffic safety focus area affixed to it, and each brochure contains a keyword that participants record in their passport booklet. Participants who visit each geocache and record all the keywords receive a reward coin for completing the trail.
Josh Woods, Community Traffic Safety Project Coordinator with HSN, explained that combining geocaching and traffic safety messaging occurred to him during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional outreach and education methods like school programs or health fairs weren’t an option. A geocacher himself, Woods noticed the activity increased in popularity as families searched for outdoor activities to enjoy while maintaining social distancing. He started to explore the possibility of marrying the two ideas together. The result was the Clearfield County Traffic Safety Geotrail, which opened in June 2021.
Data collected during the first two quarters that the trail was operational showed the program was a viable means of raising traffic safety awareness. Between its launch on June 4 and September 20, 2021, 942 caches were logged as found in Clearfield County. During that same time frame, traditional programs reached 982 people across all nine counties served by PennDOT District 2, for an average of 109 contacts per county. Geotrail program participation exceeded the average program participation by nearly 900%.
Geocachers interested in exploring this new trail and learning more about traffic safety may pick up their passport booklets at the Clinton County Economic Partnership & Visitors Bureau at 212 North Jay Street in Lock Haven. They may also collect their reward coin at that location after logging all 20 keywords in their passport booklet. The office is open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.
“We’re excited to partner with PennDOT, the Highway Safety Network and State Farm on the Clinton County GeoTrail,” says Julie Brennan, Chamber/Tourism Director with the Clinton County Economic Partnership & Visitors Bureau. “The new trail allows us to show off our recreational spaces, local attractions and historic sites from one end of the county to the other. We are grateful for the support we’ve received from the owner of each location where a cache is hidden. Geocaching translates into fun for the whole family. This trail will bring people to our area, get them outdoors, and educate them on important traffic safety topics. It’s a win all the way around.”
PennDOT did not spend any taxpayer money to purchase the materials for the geotrail program. Highway Safety Network secured funding through State Farm Insurance’s Good Neighbor Citizenship Company Grants program for the passport booklets, reward coins and geocache boxes. State Farm awards these grants to build safer, stronger, and better-educated communities across the United States by focusing on safety, education and community development.
“State Farm is excited to continue its support of the Traffic Safety Geotrail program and help it find a home in Clinton County,” said Cara Montarsi, State Farm Insurance Agent in Lock Haven. “Our top priority is promoting safety for the members of our communities and helping them live more comfortably. This partnership with the Highway Safety Network, PennDOT and the Clinton County Economic Partnership helps us achieve that by bringing this community a unique project highlighting numerous beautiful sites in Clinton County while teaching traffic safety concepts that will keep them safe.”
For more information on geocaching, visit www.Geocaching.com.
For more information on the Clinton County Economic Partnership & Visitors Bureau, visit https://www.clintoncountyinfo.com/clinton-county-economic-partnership-visitors-bureau.
For more information on State Farm’s Good Neighbor Citizenship Company Grants, visit www.StateFarm.com.
For more information on PennDOT’s highway safety initiatives, visit www.PennDOT.gov/Safety.
For regional traffic updates, follow www.twitter.com/511PAAltoona, www.twitter.com/511PAErie, and www.twitter.com/511PAStateCOLL.
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