British road signs use specially designed lettering, and much of it is quite distinctive. On this page, you can download some of that lettering as a series of TrueType fonts.
Each font comes in a zip file with installation instructions, and an image showing some of the available characters. They are all free to download.
Commercial use
Transport is a very clear, distinctive and 'friendly' typeface and it's increasingly in demand for commercial use. The versions of Transport and other fonts you can download from this page were only intended for private non-commercial use. They may not have sufficiently accurate kerning or letter spacing for professional use, and may lack accented characters and other glyphs.
If you'd like to use Transport in a professional project, you might prefer to get a commercial version. The URW++ font foundry sells the original Transport, and K-Type sells Transport New in three weights. Finally, A2-Type sells New Transport, a modernised version produced in collaboration with Margaret Calvert that comes in multiple weights.
Some of the text on this website is displayed in Transport. Our website theme uses K-Type's Transport New.
Transport Medium
Transport is the main lettering used on British road signs, designed specifically for this purpose by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert. It was produced in two forms. Transport Medium is the lighter variant, which is composed of narrower strokes and is intended for light text on a dark background. This font file was produced by Nathaniel Porter.
Transport Medium is subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Transport Medium
42.71 KB
Transport Heavy
This is the heavier version of Transport, intended for use with dark text on a lighter background. This font file was produced by Nathaniel Porter.
Transport Heavy is subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Transport Heavy
35.74 KB
Transport Medium (Greek)
Greek road signs are written in both Greek and Latin text, and Transport was specially expanded by the Greek authorities to include suitable characters. This version of the Transport Medium font contains both the Latin and Greek alphabets (though only the Greek is shown in the preview above). This font file was produced by John Prentice.
Transport Medium is subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Transport Medium (Greek)
42.75 KB
Motorway Permanent
Motorway is a separate set of letterforms that are only used for route numbers on motorway signs, and so it only contains numbers and a handful of letters and punctuation marks. Motorway Permanent is a lighter version, for permanent signs which are white-on-blue. This font file was produced by Nathaniel Porter.
Motorway Permanent is subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Motorway Permanent
22.68 KB
Motorway Temporary
Motorway Temporary is a heavier weighting of the Motorway Permanent alphabet, and is intended for use on temporary motorway signs at roadworks which are black-on-yellow. This font file was produced by Nathaniel Porter.
Motorway Temporary is subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Motorway Temporary
21.57 KB
Pavement
This is, officially, the form used for painted lettering on the road surface — it's a vertically stretched version of Transport Medium. In real life, it's rarely used, as almost all lettering on the road surface in the UK is hand-painted. It contains a taller letter set for use on higher speed roads. This font file was produced by Nathaniel Porter.
Designs for pavement lettering are subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Pavement
49.45 KB
VMS
Variable Message Signs (also known as electronic or matrix signs) compose their messages with light-up panels. This lettering is used to calculate precisely which lights should be illuminated to make each letter. This font file was produced by Nathaniel Porter.
VMS lettering is subject to Crown Copyright, and this font contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
VMS
14.19 KB
Old Road Sign Font
Before the Worboys Report introduced the current road sign designs and lettering in 1964, British road signs looked very different. Old Road Sign Font is the first of two versions you can download here; the second is below. This font file was produced by Tom Sutch.
This font is derived from drawings which were subject to Crown Copyright and in which copyright has now expired.
Old Road Sign Font
15.53 KB
AES Ministry
An alternative version of the pre-Worboys road sign lettering, which adds some additional modern characters and some punctuation that the original probably never had. It was produced from a study of pre-Worboys signs in situ around Birmingham by Harry Blackett.
AES Ministry
17.76 KB
