From the Obama Administration Stimulus files . . .
The Federal Highway Administration's updated Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices requires new signs across the nation that use upper and lower case characters for "improved readability."
According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, "Safety is this department's top priority. These new and updated standards will help make our nation's roads and bridges safer for drivers, construction workers and pedestrians alike."
New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan illuminated the benefits further: "On the Internet, writing in all caps means you're shouting."
The cost for NYC to meet these new federal standards and replace its 250,000 all upper-case signs used for more than a century? $27.6 million.
No, this report isn't from The Onion, it's real. And I guess it accounts for the jumble of upper case and initial upper-cased words on these signs that litter the country.
1 comment:
The signs last about 10 years and most of them were up for replacement in the next few years anyway.
Tim
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