TERMINOLOGY Converting to motorway

TERMINOLOGY

Converting to motorway: We've noticed an increasing number of Americans adopting the term European term 'motorway' (abbrev 'mwy') as the generic description for a high quality highway with grade separations, controlled access and high design speed, regardless of how it is paid for. TR newsletter has been using the term 'expressway' so far mainly because it's the term that comes naturally to us here on the east coast of the US and because you can logically have both free and tolled expressways. Freeways are things they have out west and besides the 'free' in freeway rules out its use for tolled roads. 'Tolled freeway' would be an oxymoron. Now it may be true as a matter of linguistic history that the 'free' in freeway originally meant free of cross traffic and free of signals, but most people think of it as being a free-to-ride-on road. We are making the conversion to 'motorway', in part out of deference to our international subscribers but also because the American terminology is so confusing, not least to Americans. We easterners may know what an 'expressway' is. One of our 'expressways' is just as high a quality highway as any darned LA 'freeway', probably a bit better, but out west 'expressway' has a quite different sense. There it means just some kind of upgraded basically surface arterial, 4-lanes or more and median divided to be sure, but with grade separation only at a few especially important cross roads, and also lots of signalled at-grade crossing traffic, and some major frontages, and an approx 80 km/hr design speed. The recent American tendency to embrace the unconfusing European term 'motorway' makes sense to us, so east and west coast know what the heck we are talking about, without longwinded explanations.

FHWA Initiative: Time for the "Intelligent Transp Systems" people at Fed Highways to put the same effort into standardization of human communications as into standardization of radio communications (see DSRC p6). What they need is a distinguished writer type consulting on say $100/hr (+exps) for a year or so to shuttle back and forth between the coasts negotiating teminology with stakeholders, devising transitional linguistic strategies, supervising a Terms Task Force and running the odd Roundtable...to all end with a month somewhere like Lake Tahoe. No, better at Key West, FL (Hemingway ambience). Surely it is at least as important that humans be able to understand each other as itzy-bitzy radios. (Contact Bill Jones FHWA 202 366 2128 G. Bastarache, Communications, ITSA 202 484 4847)