Bi-lingual road signs?

Transport officials to look at Maori language on road signs
5:30PM Thursday January 25, 2007

Transport officials will meet next month to look at how the Maori language could be used more on traffic signs.

Hawea Vercoe, the Rotorua school principal who hit the headlines last year when he was pulled up for using the Maori word for school -- Kura -- on his bus, said he appreciated officials were looking into the greater use of te reo Maori on official road signs.

Mr Vercoe was told about the officials' plans in an email following up an earlier meeting he had to sort out what he called Kura-keti, or Kuragate.

Bob Gibson, principal engineer at Land Transport New Zealand, told Mr Vercoe a meeting between his organisation and the Transport Ministry would take place in early February.

More here .

It seems like a good idea, though potentially costly. Maybe they can start in some of the more heavily Maori-populated areas. It would be a good way to encourage people to use Maori in everyday ways. I enjoyed the bilingual signs in Ireland and Canada for practising Gaelic and French, respectively.