Metric Views’ attention has been drawn to a Victorian piece of legislation under which signs may be authorised.
Continue reading “Salisbury points to a solution (and to a problem)”
Tag: Department for Transport
Scrap optimism bias say public sector clients
This was the heading of an article in the magazine “New Civil Engineer”, published on 14 November. Metric Views looks at the effect of removing optimism bias on the estimate of the cost of road traffic sign conversion prepared by the UK Department for Transport in 2005.
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Soaring costs of major transport projects
The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has strong views on its priorities for capital spending, but perhaps less so on value for money and return on investment. We take a look at some recent proposals.
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DfT guilty of making unfounded claims
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 – one that relates to the change to metric units on road signs.
What do imperial traffic signs cost?
One of our regular readers, John Frewen-Lord, a quantity surveyor, has attempted to answer this question. In this article J F-L refers to the junior Education Minister’s suggestion that there would be more teaching of imperial units in the future school curriculum (subsequently played down by Department officials as “no significant change”).
UKMA regards the Minister’s suggestion as a political stunt to appease Eurosceptic critics (not that it has anything to do with “Europe”). It has still to be formally consulted upon and is unlikely to get any further. Nevertheless, John’s analysis is a useful demonstration of the order of possible costs of the DfT’s obstinate refusal to join the rest of the world and permit metric units on the UK’s road signs. This is what he wrote:
DfT misses another trick
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? Continue reading “DfT misses another trick”
Surprise choice for transport
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?
Aggregation of marginal gains – a way forward for the ailing UK economy
The recent performance of our Olympians, in particular the Team GB cyclists and their support team, is in stark contrast to that of the UK economy. We ask if there are lessons for the British government.
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London 2012 – winners and losers
As the Games draw to a close, we take a look at some of the winners and losers.
The Olympics – a showcase, but not just for the UK
Thursday 26 July, the eve of the opening of the Games, was a busy day for the Prime Minister as he focused on the benefits the Olympics will bring to the UK.
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