2 HR Parking Electric Vehicles Sign (Left Arrow) R7-112

MUTCD Memorandum 6/17/2013

INFORMATION: Regulatory Signs for Electric Vehicle Charging and Parking Facilities
A number of agencies are installing electric vehicle charging facilities at on-street parking locations as electric vehicles become more prevalent in the vehicle fleet. Due to variations in local regulations, and the lack of standard signing for such a condition in the current Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD), there are extreme variations in the legends and formats of the official traffic signs being installed.

While signs with word legends not currently in the MUTCD are allowed to be developed by transportation agencies without the need for official experimentation under the MUTCD provisions, this Policy is intended to promote a level of uniformity among the regulatory signing for on-street electric vehicle charging and parking sites. The Federal Highway Administration intends to include standard regulatory signing for this purpose in the next Notice of Proposed Amendment to the MUTCD. Until such time as a proposal is published, the signs and optional plaques detailed in the attached are recommended for use at on-street electric vehicle charging and parking sites. The optional plaques address variations in local regulations where posting of those regulations is required.

To date, no symbol has been developed that can effectively convey regulations associated with electric vehicle charging or parking facilities, including the Electric Vehicle Charging symbols specified for use on a General Service directional sign found in the MUTCD and the Interim Approval dated April 1, 2012. Symbols that have not been adopted in the MUTCD for use in a specific application cannot be used in untested applications without approved official experimentation that includes the requisite human factors evaluation for comprehension and legibility. Accordingly, regulatory signs for electric vehicles and vehicle charging facilities display only word legends to convey the specific requirements or restrictions.