easternmost route, though USBR 5 will run farther east of it in Virginia and the Carolinas. The westernmost and northernmost routes are USBR 97 and USBR 8, respectively, both of which are in the state of Alaska, but USBR 97 also enters Washington. Outside of Alaska, the westernmost route is expected to be USBR 95 and the northernmost USBR 8. USBR 90 is expected to be the southernmost route. Despite the analogy the system has to the U.S. Highway system, the USBRS's route numbers do not necessarily trace the same route as the corresponding U.S. Highway number; for example, while USBR 1 will run close to the East Coast and thus parallel U.S. Route 1 (US 1), the projected route of USBR 10 generally follows US 2. In order for a route to qualify as a U.S. Bike Route, it needs to connect two or more states, connect multiple U.S. Bike Routes, or connect a U.S. Bike Route with a national border. History The USBRS was established in 1978 by AASHTO for the purpose of "facilitat[ing] travel between the states over routes which have been identified as being more suitable than others for cycling." The first routes were defined in 1982: U.S. Bicycle Route 1 (USBR 1) from North Carolina to Virginia, and the stretch of USBR 76 from Illinois through Kentucky to Virginia. These two routes remained the only routes in the system until 2011. In the interim, only minor routing changes had been made in Virginia. AASHTO established a new task force in 2003 to study expansion of the system. The task force included state and federal highway officials and representatives from bicycling organizations. In October 2008, AASHTO approved a national-level corridor and route designation plan. Other organizations involved in the effort include state departments of transportation, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Adventure Cycling Association. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives proposed moving the U.S. Bicycle Route System under the authority of the FHWA as part of a new Office of Livability. In 2009, the FHWA published a new edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices that introduces a revised U.S. Bicycle Route shield. Compared to the 2003 edition, the new design swaps the bicycle symbol and route number. In early May 2011, the first major expansion of the system was made. Five new parent routes, two child routes, and one alternate route