I sent the following letter to the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) requesting any information they had on the adoption of metric construction in the 1970s. I will post any reply I receive. Maybe they could shed some light on this topic. I apologize for any errors that I may have made on the topic of US DOT metrication. I just wanted to set the 'mood' of the letter by including some basic information on the topic. greg ------------------- Dear MTO, I have been in touch with a number of Americans who are members of the U.S. Metric Association. We have been discussing the costs and difficulties currently being experienced by U.S. state Departments of Transportation in their attempts to convert their operations to metric units. In 1988 the 2000 deadline for highway construction metrication in the US was removed and since that time many states, including most recently Michigan, have abandoned their metrication efforts in favour of returning to US measurement units. Currently, only California has an active program in place to phase out the use of American/Imperial units in favour of metric. Most other states who currently some metric are choosing either to maintain the dual-system status quo or revert back to American/Imperial. I would like to know if the MTO kept track of the costs and difficulties in converting to metric back in the 1970s. What percentage of current construction done in metric vs. American/Imperial? How difficult was it to find materials/equipment in metric specifications? How difficult is it today? How difficult was it to find contractors willing to bid on metric projects during the conversion period? How difficult is it today? How much did converting cost? Did the federal government provide financial assistance during conversion? Did MTO notice an increase or decrease in the number of errors in construction made after the adoption of metric? Did the adoption of metric reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of highway construction? Has the adoption of metric highway construction in Ontario benefitted Ontario industries by allowing them to market their products and services outside of Canada? Please note that this information is not for official use, only for a private debate on the topic of highway construction metric conversion. Any information you can provide on this topic would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Gregory Peterson an Ontarian in exile in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
