Tag Archives: DfT

DfT guilty of making unfounded claims

Posted on 2013-05-17 by ronniec

Yesterday, the National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the UK Department for Transport (DfT) for its unfounded claims about the benefits of the proposed high speed rail project HS2. In this article, Ronnie Cohen identifies another unfounded claim by the DfT … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Myths, Road signs, Transport | Tagged claim, confusion, Department for Transport, DfT, drivers, evidence, Freedom of Information, metric, metrication, Road signs | 1 Comment

What do imperial traffic signs cost?

Posted on 2013-02-08 by Erithacus

One of our regular readers, John Frewen-Lord, a retired quantity surveyor, has attempted to answer this question. In this article JF-L refers to the junior Education Minister’s suggestion that there would be more teaching of imperial units in the future … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged Department for Transport, DfT, Education, Road signs | 36 Comments

DfT misses another trick

Posted on 2013-01-18 by Erithacus

The Department for Transport wants to reduce sign clutter. Very commendable, you might think. So why don’t they adopt an obvious measure that would make many signs smaller, simpler and easier to read – and thereby reduce clutter?

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged Department for Transport, DfT, imperial road signs, metric road signs, Road signs, sign clutter | 9 Comments

Surprise choice for transport

Posted on 2012-11-30 by derekp

This was the headline in a back number of a trade magazine that recently came to our attention. So who was this choice, why the surprise, and when was he or she chosen for transport?

Posted in History, Road signs, Transport | Tagged Department for Transport, DfT, imperial road signs, metric road signs, metrication | 10 Comments

Ireland’s road signs revisited

Posted on 2012-06-22 by tonyw

In Ireland, the changeover from Imperial to metric of its highway distance signs began in the 1990s. This was followed by the change of speed limit signs, which took place over a week-end in January 2005. Seven years on, we … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Road signs, Technical, Transport, Views from abroad | Tagged bridge strikes, DfT, dual-unit, Ireland, metric road signs, metric speed limits | 19 Comments

Inconsistent and confusing distances on public signs

Posted on 2012-06-15 by ronniec

Ronnie Cohen writes about the muddle of measurement units he has found on public signs in London, particularly those related to public transport and cycling. If two measurement systems were not bad enough, he has found there are now three.

Posted in Consumer affairs, General, Road signs, Transport, Uncategorized | Tagged advertisements, adverts, compare, comparison, confusion, cyclists, Department for Transport, DfT, distance, DLR, drivers, dual, imperial, information, kilometres, local, London, maps, mess, metres, metric, miles, minutes, muddle, notices, overground, passengers, pedestrians, public, rail, railway, railways, Road signs, roads, signs, TfL, Thameslink, time, train, trains, transport, Transport for London, travellers, tube, underground, yards | 16 Comments

DfT cost claims busted

Posted on 2012-05-31 by ronniec

The UK Department for Transport (DfT) now puts forward cost as the principal reason for the failure to convert road traffic signs to metric. Ronnie Cohen reports on a major study he has recently carried out, using the Freedom of … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Myths, Road signs, Transport | Tagged costs, Department for Transport, DfT, distance, estimate, manufacturers, metric, metrication, replacement, Road signs, speed, suppliers, transport, UKMA | 33 Comments

Fire hydrant signs – a successful metric conversion

Posted on 2012-05-03 by derekp

Metric Views looks at a successful but unsung project that took place during the early years of the UK’s metric transition. We speculate what might have occurred had this job been the responsibility, not of local government, but of the … Continue reading →

Posted in General, History, Road signs, Technical | Tagged DfT, fire hydrant signs, metric road signs | 8 Comments

DfT admits: no basis for blocking metric signs

Posted on 2012-03-16 by Erithacus

After finally admitting they were wrong to try to withhold this information, the DfT have now published their analysis of the responses to their earlier consultation on the proposed phasing out of imperial-only height and width restriction traffic signs. What … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Road signs, Transport | Tagged bridge strikes, Department for Transport, DfT, dual-unit, imperial road signs, metric road signs, metrication | 40 Comments

FAQs about the transition to metric signs on UK roads

Posted on 2012-01-27 by ronniec

Readers have commented recently on the obstacles to the transition to metric-only signs on Britain’s roads. This has prompted Metric Views to offer answers to some Frequently Asked Questions on this subject.

Posted in History, Law, Road signs, Transport | Tagged Commonwealth countries, DfT, metric road signs, metric speed limits, metrication, Republic of Ireland, road safety, Worboys Report | 28 Comments