Citizen Concerns and Public Awareness: Metrication Examples

The United States is in the process of implementing the metric system. U.S. highway agencies are among the leaders in this effort. One troublesome aspect of being in the lead is that there appears to be no coordinated national public relations program to set the stage for the conversion. Several metric conversion experiences, those in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain, an Ohio research project, and the recent FHWA rule making for sign conversion, are reviewed to determine public awareness and citizen concerns. The conclusions drawn from those studies reinforce the need for an overall, well-coordinated, strong national public education program. Examples illustrate that success is possible (Canada and Australia) with such a program, but without it metrication can grind to an incomplete halt (Great Britain). Currently, the U.S. experience seems to most closely resemble the British metric conversion experience.