How fast were you going? ONE HUNDRED!!

As most people know, the US is the only developed country that does not use the metric system in everyday activities. Well I guess that isn't exactly true since we have 2 liter bottles, but even that is Americanized. The rest of the world writes liter as "litre" and we write it "liter." I guess that is a small thing in the big picture. I have never been a proponent of the metric system, but then I haven't been an opponent either. I don't normally use it and so it was always a hassle but not a big deal.

The US federal government about 20 years ago mandated that measurements dealing with permits and such from the US Government had to use the metric system. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) changed over from feet to meters for height of towers and antennas. This was to help get people used to using the metric system and transition from the imperial system. Well, we see how that has worked!?

Of course I learned some of the measurements like 100 meters is 317 feet, 300 meters is 984 feet. 600 meters is just shy of 2000 feet. (1968 feet) I mention those distances because those are the breakout points for tower heights for certain types of FM and TV stations. When you file paper work with the FCC and FAA and tower/antenna heights are involved, there is no "feet" box. It is in meters. (Thank goodness for the Internet conversion sites!) Up until my trips to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) that is all of the metrics I knew except for the usual 32 degrees is 0 degrees Celsius and 212 degrees (boiling point) is 100 degrees Celsius. Learned that in school between listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Bee Gees. (does that date me?)

Toronto is a large metropolitan area like an Atlanta or Washington, DC. Many expressways and many small bedroom communities. Pearson International Airport sits off of Routes 427 and 401 (the pictures of the Air France crash last summer showed the 401 close to the 427 collector as they say there but they mean on ramp) west of Toronto in the town of Mississauga. In Canada, they don't have Interstates in the sense as the US. There the Interstate type highways are 3 digit numbers and each province has its own series. Ontario's is 400.

In preparation for my trip this last time, (I would have a rental car, something I hadn't had the other times I had been there) I started to "drive metrically" meaning "scientifically" I would drive the closest metric speed to imperial speed to get use to the relative sensation at a certain metric speed. 60 miles per hour is 96 kilometers per hour (or km/h), 110 km/h is 68 MPH and 120 km/h is 74 MPH. I did this on and off for about a month before my trip, this was to get used to a different numbering system.

My hotel was only about 10 kilometers, ah 6 miles, and the route was out of Pearson on to the 427, one exit to the 401 and then 2 exits to the 403 and then 5 exits to Hurontario St and then 10 blocks to the hotel. All was going well until I drove out of the rental car parking lot at Pearson.

First thing I noticed was that the small numbers on the speed odometer that I had gotten used to no longer were metric but now imperial and the big numbers were metric. OK, I now have to focus on a different location than I had practiced. No problem. The second thing I noticed was that the speed limit sign was not in MPH but km/h. My brain had gotten used to converting up from MPH to km/h. Now for the brain to work, I had to convert down so my sensation of relative speed could work or I would have to keep my eyes glued to the speed odometer to be sure I wasn't speeding or impeding traffic. OK, deep breath. If I can handle 10,000 volts in a transmitter, what is a little metric conversion, hhmmm?

First speed limit sign out of the parking lot was 50 km/h (30 MPH). OK relatively slow speed. I mean this was still the airport property for gosh sakes not the Lowes Motor Speedway, no need to gun it. No sweat. By the time I reached the stop light 1 km later (half mile) to get on the collector at the 427 I glanced down and was doing 80 km/h (50 MPH)! WOW! My relative speed sensation wasn't working very well. Now I have to read a road map to be sure I get on the correct collector (all of the roads were at least 4 lanes per side and had multiple off ramps at the same place) since the distances are now in kilometers (6/10 of mile) and the road signs are different colors than ours and they are bilingual in English and French since Canada has two official languages (all government buildings and road signs must be in both languages) the old mush factory upstairs was starting to move the needle ever closer to the red overload zone with each passing moment.


Now the speed on the 427 is 100 km/h and there are 4 off ramp lanes, 2 for the 401 (looping over the roadway) and 2 for the 407 ETR toll road (looping over the 401 and the 427 and to the left - AVOID THAT ROAD AT COSTS - no pun intended). As I hit the 401 collector, I checked my speed and it was 115 km/h (70 MPH). The speed on the off ramp is 80 km/h (50 MPH).

Oh great! I have been driving less than 5 minutes and already I am getting paranoid that the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police, the equivalent of our Highway Patrol) has seen no telling how many moving violations in just 3 kilometers between speed and lane changes as some idiot in a rental Jeep Liberty tries to read a road map and drive at and/or above and/or below road speed! I am now beginning to think that a rental car was a BAD IDEA! That 35 dollar taxi ride from the airport to the hotel maybe wasn't so bad after all and I really don't walk enough!

Well I am now on the 401 at 110 km/h, the posted speed. Just as I look up from the speed odometer, in the far left lane is an OPP car coming fast! I figured I had it and started to move over to the far right lane preparing to hit the shoulder and probably hauled off to jail. But the OPP car stays in the far left lane and speeds on by to parts unknown. Wow! OK, got past that one. Now I need to concentrate on my exit for the 403 that is just a kilometer or two ahead.

Traffic on the 401 is heavy for a Saturday afternoon but everyone seems to be driving the posted speed. Having gotten used to exits with numbers, I quickly realized that on Canadian superhighways, they don't use exit numbers, just names or route numbers. So I would have to read the road signs carefully to be sure I get off on the proper collector. With signs over the road, on the side of the road, on the road decked out in green, blue, white and bright yellow and TWO languages, I had to learn very quickly which signs to ignore and which ones to look at and which lines to look at. Thank goodness for cruise control for I turned it on and let'er run on autopilot while I searched for the numbers 4-0-3.


Before I know it, I see the multidecked interchange for the 403 and the 410. Luckily the speed doesn't drop down on the collector so cruise control stays engaged. Now I have about 5 kilometers before I get to the Hurontario St exit. The speed on the 403 has dropped down to 100 km/h and the road is packed. I move over to the far right lane and just begin to get used to the difference in road signs. I even turn on the radio and tune in CFTR AM, 680 News.

My nice afternoon drive is brought back to life as I see the sign for Hurontario St. I drop out of cruise control and hit the collector and see the speed is 60 km/h (37 MPH). At the top of the off ramp I stop at the light in the left hand lane. There, that wasn't so hard after all. The light changes and I pull out on to Hurontario. The speed is 50 km/h (30 MPH). As I drove the 10 blocks to the hotel, things moved much slower and I had a chance to catch my breath and figure out what I needed to do. In 5 minutes I am at the front door of the hotel no worse the wear.

After I checked in, I got back out on Hurontario and ran up towards the town of Brampton to get used to driving again and to see some of the sights. It was pretty uneventful. The next day I drove to Niagara Falls, 127 km (60 miles) on the Queens Expressway, another superhighway that ranged from 4 lanes to 10 lanes, depending on where you are and speeds that ranged from 100 km/h to 120 km/h. I was getting the hang of it. By the time I left 4 days later, it had been like metric driving was all I had ever done.

If you go to Canada, don't try your first drive on a superhighway reading a road map by yourself. Find a side street first.