Do you remember how Arizona is the only state to still feature metric signage along one of their interstates? If not, then go back to this post from last week, where we talked about Arizona’s I-19 and how they’ve held onto the kilometric signage that was first erected as a part of Metric Conversion Act started in 1975. This campaign only lasted seven years before it was dismantled in 1982.
The conversion to the metric system actually started earlier, on February 10, 1964, by what is now called the National Institute of Systems and Technology (then called the National Bureau of Standards). This agency is a part of “ the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness.” They decided that they would use the metric system anywhere that it wouldn’t cause “detrimental effect.”
This led to Congress’s authorization of the US Metric Study in 1968: a three year study of the systems of measurements in the US with a 45 person advisory panel that consulted with businesses, locals, consumers, manufacturers, state and local officials. This study was meant to determine the feasibility of the metric system and whether the US should convert to match the rest of the world. With the growing globalization of commerce, the study concluded that converting to the metric system would definitely be in the best interest of the United States.
Then came the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. The study had suggested a decade long transition period and the United States Metric Board (USMB) was established to organize, coordinate, and execute how the metric system would be added to public education. However, since the conversion was initiated voluntarily and Congress wouldn’t pass the necessary mandates, in 1981 the USMB told Congress that they would be unable to complete a national conversion. Thanks to this, Lyn Nofziger (press secretary to Reagan) was able to successfully argue the inefficacy of the USMB and it was disbanded in 1982 to reduce federal spending.
This wasn’t the end of the metric system, though. In 2015, international business and the globalization of commerce became even more apparent. With the internet and online shopping, we see the metric system in the the measurements of items that we buy online, be it shelves, clothing, or dishes. More often than not, a t-shirt’s measurements are shown in centimeters versus our usual inches. This ends up being a way that our country is slowly converting to metric. Check out this interesting bit from Executive Order 12770 signed by President Bush in 1991 to various departments and agencies within the government to, "take all appropriate measures within their authority" to use the metric system "as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce" and authorized the Secretary of Commerce "to charter an Interagency Council on Metric Policy ('ICMP'), which will assist the Secretary in coordinating Federal Government-wide implementation of this order." Basically, we've been slowly converting since 1991 wherever it's most useful.
Whether our signage shows miles or kilometers, Interstate Signways will still be designing, printing, and delivering the signs that mark the way!
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