AARoads Forum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/51100947142/in/album-72157718871943328/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/8572488431/in/album-72157718871943328/

I like personally the new ones as far as aiding strangers with the road name spelled out in larger letters, but at the same time miss those old green circle cut outs as they made it a quick glance for locals.

I prefer the new design. The letters are more legible. The red, white and blue color scheme stands out from all the green sign backgrounds. IMHO the old round green circle signs looked stupid and dated.

The original "Circle-D" sign design was officially retired in 2013. Apparently, NTTA is in no hurry to remove the legacy signs.

(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdfwfreeways.com%2Fimages%2Fbook%2FExDNT%2F06_dallas_freeways-229.jpg&hash=f01f409b3c54fe5838134a815bd0c54e59e836a6)

I like the newer design, because it's helpful to drivers.  The old design is helpful only to those who already know what it means.

This is related to my complaint about AT&T Stadium.  What the hell is that?  When it was called Cowboys Stadium, you could discern that it was probably a facility for the NFL team and would be somewhere in or near Dallas.  The new name tells you exactly nothing about what it does or where it is.  It means something only if you already know what it means.  I have a similar complaint about NTTA's ZipCash.  TxDOT uses "Pay by Mail," which tells you exactly what it is.  ZipCash is what gives the former cash users the ability to be more zippy by not stopping at a toll booth.  It tells you what it means only if you already know what it means, just like the old Big D sign.  For everyone else, you just have to guess.  It's like if the toll roads sold off the naming rights to the post-pay option to a big corporation and called it PanasonicPay and everyone thought "what the fuck does that mean?"

I kind of liked the old circle shields because of the "Big D" reference.  This said, it seems pretty clear to me that NTTA wants to institute unified branding.  Besides the DNT, the PGBT, the Addison Airport Toll Tunnel, and the Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge had their own shields, all of which are on borrowed time.

I prefer the old, Circle D shields.  I think they could use an update, though.  One gripe I have with the current NTTA shields is that they all look the same.  I don't care colors or shapes are used, but a large GB for the PGBT, a large R for the Sam Rayburn Tollway, etc. would be a lot more legible at typical tollway speeds of 80 mph.

I think there should have been a "don't care" vote to what kind of DNT shields are posted. Since I've never driven on the Dallas North Tollway, I feel indifferent to whether the old or new shields are better. Personally, I think the DNT should have had a state highway designation added to the tollroad.

Quote from: MightyMG on January 11, 2023, 11:21:32 AM
One gripe I have with the current NTTA shields is that they all look the same.  I don't care colors or shapes are used, but a large GB for the PGBT, a large R for the Sam Rayburn Tollway, etc. would be a lot more legible at typical tollway speeds of 80 mph.

This is my opinion too.  I think the old shield is ugly, but at least it's unique.

Even these (https://goo.gl/maps/DYsgCRxN3dUkg9aY9) can be hard to distinguish at first glance.  When I drove through there a year and a half ago, I was looking for the PGBT exit, and I had to be really careful not to take the wrong exit.  I would have preferred unique shields, especially different colors.

I prefer the new signs because they are CLEAR to the driver. The older green signs require a few seconds to stare at to get the message.

Quote from: wxfree on January 09, 2023, 11:45:21 PMThis is related to my complaint about AT&T Stadium. What the hell is that? When it was called Cowboys Stadium, you could discern that it was probably a facility for the NFL team and would be somewhere in or near Dallas.

The naming rights took place on July 25, 2013 and is estimated to be worth $17-$19 million per year. Also, AT&T is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. You also have the American Airlines Center where the Mavericks and Stars play, and those naming rights are worth $195 million. American airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth.

Quote from: wxfree on January 09, 2023, 11:45:21 PMI have a similar complaint about NTTA's ZipCash.  TxDOT uses "Pay by Mail," which tells you exactly what it is.  ZipCash is what gives the former cash users the ability to be more zippy by not stopping at a toll booth.

Shrug.... marketing....

Quote from: ZLoth on January 11, 2023, 01:22:03 PM

Quote from: wxfree on January 09, 2023, 11:45:21 PMI have a similar complaint about NTTA's ZipCash.  TxDOT uses "Pay by Mail," which tells you exactly what it is.  ZipCash is what gives the former cash users the ability to be more zippy by not stopping at a toll booth.

Shrug.... marketing....

Yes, and marketing is often unclear, misleading, and deceptive.  I agree with Wxfree on this one--it is by no means evident from the ZipCash branding itself that what is being referred to is a pay-by-mail/pay-online mechanism for settling toll liability.

---

The guide-sign shields NTTA uses are an agency-specific adaptation of TxDOT's state toll road shield as shown in Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas.  Many other agencies in Texas that operate toll roads (such as RMAs) have their own versions, but they are all square, with the characters in the route designation rendered in more condensed FHWA series (or, in NTTA's case, Clearview alphabets) as needed to fit.  I don't agree with this approach--I think it would be much better to allow the width of the shield to vary as needed to accommodate Series D, as is the standard for guide-sign FM and RM shields.

Quote from: wxfree on January 09, 2023, 11:45:21 PMThis is related to my complaint about AT&T Stadium. What the hell is that? When it was called Cowboys Stadium, you could discern that it was probably a facility for the NFL team and would be somewhere in or near Dallas.

The naming rights took place on July 25, 2013 and is estimated to be worth $17-$19 million per year. Also, AT&T is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. You also have the American Airlines Center where the Mavericks and Stars play, and those naming rights are worth $195 million. American airlines is headquartered in Dallas also.
[/quote]

Actually, American is based in Fort Worth, just south of DFW Airport.  (Southwest is based in Dallas, though.)

Quote from: -- US 175 -- on January 14, 2023, 09:51:35 AM

Quote from: wxfree on January 09, 2023, 11:45:21 PMThis is related to my complaint about AT&T Stadium. What the hell is that? When it was called Cowboys Stadium, you could discern that it was probably a facility for the NFL team and would be somewhere in or near Dallas.

The naming rights took place on July 25, 2013 and is estimated to be worth $17-$19 million per year. Also, AT&T is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. You also have the American Airlines Center where the Mavericks and Stars play, and those naming rights are worth $195 million. American airlines is headquartered in Dallas also.

Actually, American is based in Fort Worth, just south of DFW Airport.  (Southwest is based in Dallas, though.)
[/quote]
And then you have the AT&T Center down in San Antonio, where the Spurs play; at one point, the Miami Heat's building was named American Airlines Arena, which resulted in a running joke of an All-AA Finals of 2006 and 2011.

But back to the subject at hand: As much as I love the old shield, the new one is even better.

Orange text on a blue background is hard to read, even if there's a white stroke around it.

Neither one of them are particularly inspired designs, though.

Actually, there is a third variant.  Behold (https://goo.gl/maps/bNGyXGSyP4WkYRL26).

There are actually two variants of the new shield: uppercase (https://goo.gl/maps/QYQz2vYUeyiG49ie8) only and mixed case (https://goo.gl/maps/s7ydGZkVxWT86YLW6).

Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on January 17, 2023, 10:14:10 AM
Actually, there is a third variant.  Behold (https://goo.gl/maps/bNGyXGSyP4WkYRL26).

There are actually two variants of the new shield: uppercase (https://goo.gl/maps/QYQz2vYUeyiG49ie8) only and mixed case (https://goo.gl/maps/s7ydGZkVxWT86YLW6).

That one appears to be for BGSes only.