High Quality
Open the downloaded document, and select print from the file menu (PDF reader required).
09
Why, Unlike the Rest of the Civilised World, hasthe United Kingdom notAdopted Metric RoadSigns?
David B. Osborne
2Why, Unlike the Rest of the Civilised World, has the United Kingdom not Adopted Metric RoadSigns?
The United Kingdom, just like every developed country, excluding the United States,is officially metric, so why do road signs show miles, yards and feet, although designed andmanufactured in millimetres? The metric system was developed to allow for an internationalstandard in weights and measures. This essay aims to ascertain why the UK continues to bean anomalous example of a metric country by keeping its road signs imperial. It will assessthe estimated costs of converting the road signs, the economic benefits of using a singlesystem of measurement versus the economic costs of using imperial signage whilst beingofficially metric.
It will also compare Ireland’s metric switchover in 2005
to the lack thereof ofthe UK. This essay will also ignore the failed target to convert road signs by 1975.There are varying estimates of how much a switchover to metric signage would cost.
According to the White Paper on Metrication “The
most expensive operation within the fieldof public administration will be the conversion of all road signs showing miles (or mph) tokilometres (or kph). The cost of conversion of all road speed signs is likely to be about £2mand of all road signs indi
cating distance appreciably more”
. (Department of Trade andIndustry, 1972 paragraph 107).
In today’s prices
(Using the Retail Price Index) that estimateis around £21 million. Since then, the Department for Transport (DfT) and the UK MetricAssociation have both made estimates about the cost of converting road signs. The DfTestimated that the cost would be between £565 million and £644 million. (Department forTransport 2006) The UK Metric Association however estimated the cost of the switchover tobe significantly less, approximating costs between £31 million and £160 million (Paice 2006).In the period 2006-2007, expenditure on roads was approximately £7.01 billion for Englandalone (Department for Transport 2008). The UKMA estimates amount to 0.49% and 2.3% of
the DfT’s total expenditure on roads
, whiltst the estimates from the DfT amount to 8.06% and9.19% of total expenditure. The graphs on the following page illustrate the previous figures.There are facts about these estimates that need to be tasken into consideration:
The estimates made by the DfT were made based on previous estimates in1989.
The Estimates made by the UKMA are based on the 2005 Irish switchover.
The figure for total expenditure on roads is only for England, however theestimates are for the entire Kingdom. Therefore, adding the Scottish andWelsh road expendture would lower the percentage of expenture for bothestimates.
3Why, Unlike the Rest of the Civilised World, has the United Kingdom not Adopted Metric RoadSigns?
Figure 1
Source:UKMA (2006) & DfT (2006)This graph compares the difference in estimates, between the UK Metric Association and theDepartment for Transport.
Source: UKMA (2006), DfT(2006)This graph compares the estimates of the conversion costs with the totalexpenditure on roads in the year 2006-2007.
Notice that the UKMA’s lower
estimate is almost negligible compared to total expenditure.
Add a Comment