Metric Views

How can we get rid of the EU bogeyman to clear path for metrication?

The fight to keep the imperial system and resist the growing role of the metric system in the UK has been erroneously seen as the plucky British underdog gaining victory over the European bully. This is how metrication issues are reported in populist national newspapers. Hence the growing hostility to the European Union has come in tandem with growing hostility to the metric system. Many wrongly believe the myth that the metric system has been imposed on the UK by the EU. The EU is seen as the villain or bogeyman in the metrication process in the twenty-first century. How can we demolish the EU bogeyman to clear the path for the completion of metrication in the UK?

Why are the authorities afraid to tackle law breaking by imperialists?

Last month, there were reports about vigilantes damaging ULEZ cameras in London and 20 mph speed limit signs in Wales. These incidents were widely reported in the British media. By contrast, the media ignore a group of imperial vigilantes who take the law into their own hands and deface, damage and remove metric signs. They also ignore market traders and small shops that price loose goods by the pound only (with no metric equivalent) in defiance of the Price Marking Order. Why are the authorities intimidated by them?

Government misses project to benefit all from money saved by scrapping HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line

This week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line will be scrapped, saving £36 billion, in response to the soaring cost of building HS2. He has redirected the funding from building this line to projects in the North, Midlands and the rest of the country. However, he has left out one important transport project that would have benefited everyone in the country.

Proposal for a British Technical Keyboard

Martin Vlietstra proposes a new British technical keyboard that includes non-breaking spaces and some common characters used for metric symbols. In his proposal, he considered various categories of user and using the restriction of inline Unicode characters, has proposed a keyboard that will not only handle all the characters needed by SI, but will also handle many of the characters needed for chemical formulae, and includes Greek characters such as ‘π’, ‘θ’ and other commonly used symbols from mathematics and physics including ‘×’, ‘÷’ and ‘±’. He uses the standard British keyboard as the basis for his proposal and explains how a lot of new characters can be supported using key combinations with the Alt Gr key. It covers a lot more than the extra characters for the correct display of metric symbols.

Welsh road signs in 2022 cost small fraction of DfT estimates in cash terms despite 50% inflation since 2006 DfT metric conversion report

The total estimated cost for implementing the speed limit change from 30 mph to 20 mph, including the cost for changing signs and markings on roads, has been published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) undertaken by the Welsh Government on 20 mph speed limits. The published document gives a breakdown of road sign costs. These costs are several times lower than the Department for Transport (DfT) cost estimates of conversion of road traffic signs to metric units in cash terms despite 50% inflation during the 16-year period between the two reports.

Cost is no barrier to rollout of 20 mph speed limit

For years, the DfT has given cost and diversion of funds from other parts of the transport budget as arguments against the metrication of UK road signs. While all kinds of arguments have been made for and against the reduction of the speed limit on local roads to 20 mph in London and Wales, I have not heard any opponents of the rollout of 20 mph speed limits say that it costs too much or that it diverts funds from other parts of the transport budget. This shows that the DfT arguments against changing road signs to metric units are bogus.

Gibraltar is far ahead of UK on metric road signs

I came back from a short trip to Gibraltar one week ago and noticed that all their road signs were metric. The only imperial units I saw on road signs there were on dual-unit restriction signs. Many showed metres only, but none showed only feet and inches. Gibraltar road signs are almost exclusively metric with only limited use of imperial units, the mirror image of the UK situation.

UK measurement muddle affects Gibraltar Highway Code

Who would believe that the negative influence of the Department for Transport’s measurement muddle would be felt far beyond our shores? Believe it or not, it has an impact in Gibraltar as its Highway Code is based on the UK highway code and always has been. Despite the fact that the Gibraltar Highway Code is reviewed and adapted to meet Gibraltar’s local requirements, it is bizarre that it includes a table of stopping distances for speeds in miles per hour, which is the only place in the Code where miles are used. Gibraltar speed limits are in kilometres per hour and distances are all metric and this is reflected everywhere else in the Gibraltar Highway Code.

Opportunity missed to save £ millions on new speed limit signs in Wales

An opportunity to save millions of pounds on new speed limit signs in Wales has been missed by the failure to synchronise the lowering of the default speed limit on roads in built-up areas in Wales with a switch to metric speed limits.

Continue reading “Opportunity missed to save £ millions on new speed limit signs in Wales”

ULEZ becomes London-wide from today

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) has expanded to become London-wide from today. As it expands, we look at the crucial role of measurements to determine the criteria for vehicles to meet ULEZ standards. Needless to say, they are all metric.

	Daniel on Is the metric system the tool…
	punditgi on Is the metric system the tool…
	Martin Vlietstra on The end of the traditional…
	Daniel on Lib Dems block ability of Mini…
	Daniel on The end of the traditional…