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== History ==
At the start of the 20th century—the early days of the rural [[highway]]—each road was promoted and maintained by [[automobile associations|automobile clubs]] of private individuals, who generated revenue through club membership and increased business along cross-country routes. However, each highway had its own set of signage, usually designed to promote the highway rather than to assist in the direction and safety of travelers. In fact, conflicts between these automobile clubs frequently led to multiple sets of signs—sometimes as many as eleven—being erected on the same highway.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=January 11, 2024 |title=The Evolution of MUTCD: Prologue |url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno-history.htm |first1=H. Gene Jr. |last1=Hawkins |date = December 15, 2023 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration }}</ref>▼
=== Early 20th century ===
Government action to begin resolving the wide variety of signage that had cropped up did not occur until the late 1910s and early 1920s when groups from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin began surveying existing road signs in order to develop road signage standards. They reported their findings to the Mississippi Valley Association of Highway Departments, which adopted their suggestions in 1922 for the shapes to be used for road signs. These suggestions included the familiar circular railroad crossing sign and octagonal stop sign.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite magazine |last1 = Johnson |first1 = A.E. |editor1-last = Johnson |editor1-first = A.E. |title = A Story of Road Signing |magazine = American Association of State Highway Officials: A Story of the Beginning, Purposes, Growth, Activities, and Achievements of AASHO |date = 1965 |pages = 129–138 |publisher = American Association of State Highway Officials |___location = Washington, DC }}</ref>▼
▲At the start of the 20th century—the early days of the rural [[highway]]—each road was promoted and maintained by [[automobile associations|automobile clubs]] of private individuals, who generated revenue through club membership and increased business along cross-country routes. However, each highway had its own set of signage, usually designed to promote the highway rather than to assist in the direction and safety of travelers.
▲Government
In January 1925, [[Thomas Harris MacDonald]], chief of the federal [[Bureau of Public Roads]], published an article in which he argued that developing highway transportation in the United States to the "highest degree" would require five major innovations. Among them were "uniform markings and signs" and a "uniform [[color code]]".<ref name="MacDonald">{{cite journal |last1=MacDonald |first1=Thomas H. |title=The Urgent Necessity for Uniform Traffic Laws and Public Safety Devices |journal=American Highways |date=January 1925 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=5–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z933iSTZIUUC&pg=RA7-PA7}} (At p. 7.)</ref> MacDonald argued that "drastic enforcement of uniform rules" as to "all those matters of law, regulation and safety devices which involve the human attributes in the operation of the vehicle" would improve safety on American highways, because in emergency situations, a driver and his vehicle must react as one on the basis of "reflex" and there is no time to think.<ref name="MacDonald" />
In January 1927, the [[American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials|American Association of State Highway Officials]] (AASHO) published the ''Manual and Specifications for the Manufacture, Display, and Erection of U.S. Standard Road Markers and Signs'' to set standards for traffic control devices used on rural roads.<ref name="NCHRPReport484">{{cite book |last1 = Hawkins |first1 = H. Gene |last2 = Parham |first2 = Angelia H. |last3 = Womack |first3 = Katie N. |title = NCHRP Report 484: Feasibility Study for an All-White Pavement Marking System |date = 2002 |publisher = Transportation Research Board |___location = Washington, DC |pages = A-1—A-7 |url = http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_484.pdf |access-date = August 10, 2020 |chapter = Appendix A: Evolution of U.S. Pavement Marking System }}</ref> Despite the title, this manual did not have any guidance on [[pavement
[[File:Mutcd cover 1935.jpg|thumb|150px|Cover of the 1937 typeset reprint of the first edition of the MUTCD published in 1935]]
The original edition of the ''Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways'' was published in 1935.<ref name="Johnson" /><ref name="Hawkins">{{cite journal |last1=Hawkins |first1=Gene |title=88 Years of MUTCD Editions: How the New MUTCD Evolved |journal=ITE Journal |date=April 2024 |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=24-25 |url=https://ite.ygsclicbook.com/pubs/itejournal/2024/april-2024/live/index.html#p=24}}</ref> It was only 166 pages long and it was published as a [[Mimeograph|mimeographed]] document.<ref name="Hawkins" /> In 1937, the manual was republished, this time as a typeset document.<ref name="Hawkins" />
In 1942, the Joint Committee was expanded to include the [[Institute of Transportation Engineers]], then known as the Institute of Traffic Engineers.<ref name="Johnson" /> During World War II, the second edition of the MUTCD was released as a ''War Emergency Edition''. This included information on traffic control under [[Blackout (wartime)|blackout]] conditions and how to conserve materials needed for the war effort.<ref name="Hawkins" />
In 1948, three years after [[World War II]] ended, the third edition of the MUTCD was released. This edition had a different format and structure than the previous editions.<ref name="Hawkins" /> Several road signs first assumed their current appearance in this edition.<ref name="Hawkins" /> The most controversial issue during the early years of the MUTCD had been the color of center lines on roads.<ref name="NCHRPReport484" /> The 1948 MUTCD settled on white,<ref name="NCHRPReport484" /> but recommended yellow for double center lines on multi-lane highways and for center lines in no-passing zones.<ref name="NCHRPReport484" />
=== Mid-20th century ===
In 1949, the [[United Nations]] Conference on Road and Motor Transport launched a research project to develop a worldwide uniform signage scheme
In 1953, after cooperating with the UN conference's initial experiments, the United States declined to sign or ratify the UN's then-proposed protocol for a worldwide system of uniform road signs.<ref name="Johnson" /> There were two major reasons behind this decision.<ref name="Johnson" /> First, most U.S. roads and streets were (and still are) under state jurisdiction.<ref name="Johnson" /><ref name="Air Bulletin" /> Second, the United States was developing modern [[controlled-access highway]]s at the time (culminating in the creation of the [[Interstate Highway System]] in 1956), and the novel problems presented by such new high-speed highways required rapid innovations in road signing and marking "that would definitely be impaired by adherence to any international code".<ref name="Johnson" /> Despite the Americans' withdrawal from the research project, the experiments eventually resulted in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals of 1968.
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The 1971 MUTCD's preference for a rapid transition to symbols over words quietly disappeared in the 1978 MUTCD.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = American Association of State Highway Officials |last2 = National Joint Committee on Traffic Control Devices |title = Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways |date = 1978 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |___location = Washington, DC |page = 2A-6 |chapter = Section 2A-13, Symbols }}</ref>
After 1971, FHWA formally assumed responsibility for publishing the MUTCD. The 1971 MUTCD was revised eight times. In 1978, the MUTCD physical format was changed to a [[ring binder]] whose revisions were published as replacement pages (i.e., an interfiled [[looseleaf service]]).<ref name="Hawkins" /> The 1978 MUTCD was subject to four revisions, and the subsequent 1988 MUTCD was subject to seven revisions.<ref name="Hawkins" />▼
=== 21st century ===
The 2000 and 2003 MUTCDs each eliminated a symbol sign that had long been intended to replace a word message sign: "Pavement Ends" (in 2000) and "Narrow Bridge" (in 2003).<ref name="2003Rev1Intro">{{cite book |last1 = American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |last2 = National Joint Committee on Traffic Control Devices |title = Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways |date = 2003 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |___location = Washington, DC |url = https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003r1/intro/intro.htm |access-date = August 26, 2020 |chapter = Introduction }}</ref>
[[File:Difference between 2003 MUTCD and 2009 MUTCD Advance Guide Signs.png|thumb|The left guide sign is from the 2003 MUTCD, and the right sign is from the 2009 MUTCD.]]
▲After 1971, FHWA formally assumed responsibility for publishing the MUTCD. The 1971 MUTCD was revised eight times. In 1978, the MUTCD physical format was changed to a [[ring binder]] whose revisions were published as replacement pages (i.e., an interfiled [[looseleaf service]]).<ref name="Hawkins" /> The 1978 MUTCD was subject to four revisions, and the subsequent 1988 MUTCD was subject to seven revisions.<ref name="Hawkins" />
The 2000 MUTCD was the first to use headings, to be published on [[Letter (paper size)|letter-size paper]], to be available on the internet, and to use metric units.<ref name="Hawkins" /> Due to a number of significant flaws, it was quickly superseded by the 2003 MUTCD.<ref name="Hawkins" />
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