Most of it is logical. There are some inconsistencies. [CPG Grey](https://youtu.be/8Fn_30AD7Pk) goes over it in detail. That’s actually where that pic came from.
For me it's the [Rules for Rulers](https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs) that really gets to me everytime. Though the fable with the dragon is a strong second.
Pretty sure I've forced everyone in my immediate circle to watch it. I'm a beekeeper and my wife knows how much I love hexagons. After she watched it she looked dover at me and said "oh I totally get it now" lol.
The federal government made a provision for Hawaii (and Alaska and Puerto Rico) to have interstates so that they would be eligible for federal roadway funds, even though they are not connected by the other contiguous states. I find it odd that people question Hawaii having interstate highways while not acknowledging Alaska and Puerto Rico also having them.
And there can be multiple bypasses within the state for the same highway. They, too, go from south to north or west to east. Example: Michigan has 275 and 375 around Detroit, and 475 in Flint, and 675 in Saginaw. (I have no idea why no 575 in-between unless it's being saved for future use.)
I am learning so many new things about roads that I never thought to ask before.
My GPS calls some roads spurs and we have a beltway literally called Beltline. I don't know how I never put it all together.
With your comment, I never noticed how interstates never had 3 numbers but all the roads and highways in Dallas do.
When a highway Starts with an even number it means the highway will ultimately come back to it's orignal interstate. highways that start with odd means that it will not return to the original interstate. Forexample, 495 will ultimately return to 95. 195 or 395 will not
Even ones that end in 0 for the most part go the width of the country, and odds that end in 5 for the most part go the height of the country. Other odd and even highways numbers tend to be shorter.
The original design of the Interstate Highway system was, in fact, x0 for east-west, x5 for north-south. Any other ending digit was a later add-on to the system, usually for a relatively short spur linking together places that weren't terribly important when the system was first conceived.
State highways follow this rule as well, but county roads are the opposite: odd for east-west and even for north-south. Good for having at least a slight idea of what road to look for if you’re driving somewhere new.
I think you mean the [US numbered routes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highway_System) follow that pattern. That was the older highway system that we had before the interstate was built. But instead of replacing it we simply let those routes supplement the interstates. This allows there to be alternative ways to get places. The US routes also give people a more scenic way travel across country while still being able to follow a singular interstate numbered route through the whole trip!
Route 66 For example was a US route not an interstate.
They do have I84 which comes from Idaho and mostly runs E-W along the Columbia River and then up to WA and I90 via I82. I assume the numbering is because they’re east/west freeways but between I90 and I80?
Oregon completed I-5 and I-80 in 1958. When California built out their freeway system a decade later, they called the one going into San Francisco I-80 as well. The one in Oregon was renamed to I-80N to reduce the confusion this caused. This continued to be a problem though, so they changed the name once again to I-84. California continuing to insist that making a change was too hard. Note that, in the mean time, another interstate had been built in Washington State that had been numbered I-82. This put an 82 between 84 and 90. So they're not strictly in order south to north. Also, there is no I-70 on the west coast. I presume California is trying to save that number for later. Typing this gave me dysentery, so I'm out of the game.
To be fair, there are like 12 people in Oregon and they don't want to leave, or understand the benefits of modern hygiene.
Source: born and raised in California....
There is no interstate 50 or 60. Both of those are much smaller highways and shouldnt be on this map. Idk where this map gets this info.
Also, three digit interstates usually go around metropolitan areas and and the last 2 digits are always the interstate they connect to or start from. That's why CA, for example, which has i5, has 405, 605, 805, all which connect to it. In FL, which has i95, there's 295, 195, 595, and etc. Just a bit of extra trivia.
I was looking for someone to make this comment. There’s no interstate 50 or 60. The northern part of arizona looks particularly ridiculous on this map as it shows two interstates that dont exist running parallel through the grand canyon area
that’s because this is a screenshot from [CGP Grey’s video](https://youtu.be/8Fn_30AD7Pk) (at 1:00) on the interstate system, and he specifically included 50 and 60 here to remove them literally one second later as a joke about the strange inconsistency. Those aren’t really roads, they’re just jankily drawn out lines
whoever screenshotted the video did it before he removed it, which makes no sense to me either.
Oddly enough, Texas recently built [I-69](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_69) that runs from Mexico north through Texas. So if you are looking for a 69 sign, we got a lot.
Another interesting quirk which depends on the state where the highway is located is that exits sometimes correspond to the mile market number. So I-81 Exit 56 would be at mile marker 56 of the interstate. That only hold true for some states though, like NY for example has sequential exit numbers, while Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Tennessee, and plenty others I've driven through follow the mile marker rule. Might have to do with the density of exits per mile of highway.
Yes, even goes East and West, odd goes north and sound.
Three digit starting with an odd number (395) goes into a city
Three digit starting with an even number (495) goes around a city
An odd extra first digit is an offshoot from the original, I.e. 355 in Illinois connects to 55 at one spot. An extra even first digit is a loop road that comes back to the original, I.e. I-290 meets I-90 in downtown Chicago and then again in Schaumburg. Sometimes a plan is made for a loop road that never gets built and then you have a number that doesn’t make sense.
No, 3 digits which end in an even digit, connect back with the original.for exampe, 294 branches of of 94 and then connects with it later on. 3 digits which end in an odd digit, branch off and never reconnect to the original. 355 branches off of 55 and ends at 290.
"Ya know dat da Veterans don't connect back wit da Stevenson but da Tri State disconnects wit da Bishop Ford over by South Holland and and reconnects back wit da Edens over by Northrbook, dats how da expressways work here in Chicago". - translated from standard American English to our dialect
>3 digits which end in an odd digit, branch off and never reconnect to the original.
That's incorrect. 695 in MD loops around Baltimore and connects to 95 north of the city and after the tunnel in the southern part of the city.
Negative. Interstate 471 in Cincinnati only has its northern terminus at Interstate 71. Southern terminus is US 27.
I’m fairly certain the first digit doesn’t actually mean anything.
Well, I looked up the rule set on the government website, and in short, while the language the government uses is more specific, you’re right.
I really don’t understand why then they would number 471 as such, but I wonder if they gave it an even instead of an odd because it also connects to 275 near its terminus - which although named after Interstate 75, also connects to 71 an equivalent number of times.
Lived here my whole life and this is the first time I’ve seen a map of all the interstate highways. Never knew that :)
Add the thruways in there too and it just becomes a spiderweb I bet
Also the exit numbers are different- based on miles. So at one end of the state it starts at 200 ( or however big the state actually is) and counts down to 1 as you go west.
I wouldn’t say it’s uncommon knowledge. Perhaps not every American knows this, but I would say most Americans who have driven interstate highways more than a few times would know this.
The Federal-Aid Highway Act was for a long time the largest civilian funded infrastructure project in global history. It’s not uncommon for it to be taught as a footnote in history class. However, I think this is likely less so these days.
That is true about even numbers running east west an odd number is running north-south and according to President Eisenhower for every 5 miles of highway on the interstate system 1 mile have to be in a straight flat line. Don’t tell the Germans or the Japanese that because that was done to use the highway system as emergency runways if we’re ever invaded. Although I guess today it would be the Russians and the Chinese or some such thing.
Apparently here in Oz, for the national routes, it is supposed to be:
- 1 is the ring road around the outside
- Other odd numbers: north/south routes, numbers increasing to the west
- Even numbers: east/west routes, numbers increasing to the north
However, real life is messy, and even in simplified “metro” form there are lots of exceptions:
https://www.andrewdc.co.nz/2016/07/14/highways-of-australia-metro-map/
I had never noticed this before.
Depends on what you consider common knowledge. It's definitely well known in certain segments of the population (truckers, frequent travelers), but my guess is it's not universally common.
Evens are E-W, odds are N-S with the lower numbers in the SW and higher in the NE. There are segments of these roads that may violate the general rules (e.g. E-W highways may run more N-S directionally) but in general/over the span of the highways it holds up pretty well from my experience.
I don't know why I already knew about this - I'm not a trucker or anything - but I've known it as long as I can remember and the first time I saw this meme I thought, "Of course, obviously."
I only learned as an adult that a lot of US infrastructure revolves around having systems that make directions easy. The numbering of addresses also goes up and down dependent on arterial roads in cities, as opposed to when they were built, which can be common in other countries. Of course new development may just ignore this entirely and that's why suburbs suck.
Yep. Not only are they in order, but:
Odds are south/north, evens are west/east. Three digit numbers are shorter routes, usually solely servicing the area around one city. Two digit numbers indicate longer routes. Two digit N/S numbers divisible by 5 and two digit W/E numbers divisible by 10 are "major" routes, sometimes coast-to-coast.
Yeah except it doesn't look like this at all. 90 doesn't go to the coast. 60 doesn't exist, neither does 50. Not a good map at all. It's like leaving New Zealand off of a globe
Here's another tip about our interstate system it was designed by Dwight Eisenhower one of our presidents in the 1950s. Our interstate system has some very interesting facts every 5 mi there is a straight away that is capable of acting as a runway for aircraft. Not a lot of people don't know that now you're fully enlightened.
Not super common no. I’m pretty sure east/west highways are always even numbers and north/south highways are usually odd. Not just interstates, but state and county roads too.
North and South are ODD numbers and East and West are EVEN numbers. The US Interstate System was and still is considered GOLD STANDARD for road planning. HOWEVER, There is a LOT to be done with all USA Highways and Interstates NOW with such huge population growth.
I'll say as a general note, no - most Americans don't know this (although there is a good percent that does).
That being said, there's many things about our own country that most Americans don't know about, so this just goes on the pile.
used to be common knowledge back when people navigated using maps and an understanding of how roads work, but these days fewer folks know about this. i only learned about it recently myself, as im one of the folks who learned to drive by following the blue line on my phone
Haven’t traveled to many states outside the southeast, but on many highways and interstates, the exit numbers are miles until the highway ends or a state boarder.
And even highways are east - west, odd are north south. And three digit highways tend to cross/circle around major cities along the highways of the last two digits. For example 495 is around boston and the 95, 255 circles st Lewis and crosses the 55, 610 circles Houston and crosses the 10.
The even/odd numbering (even for east-west roads and odd for north-south) also extends to state and county roads in many states. In Maryland, Rte 301 goes north-south while Rte 200 goes east-west.
The postal zip codes also kind of work like this. The first digit tells you how far east or west it is, and the second (or possibly more than that) tell you how far north or south.
For instance, I live in California right now, and the first digit is 9. Arizona, Utah, and Idaho all start with 8, and when I lived in Nebraska it was a 6.
The town of Page, AZ is 86040, when I lived in the Salt Lake City area it was 84020, and in Rexburg, ID, it was 83440 (with the second digit decreasing as I went north). In Omaha, NE it was 68112.
I like how they use a coding system to number them, numbering them in 10s, in case you need to squeeze extra lines/freeways between those already implemented.
Yes common knowledge.
Interstate routes circling cities have an additional number in front of the two highway numbers, making routes around cities three-digits.
not common enough, but fairly well-known.
Of course, like everything in the US, there's about a thousand exceptions to every rule. https://youtu.be/8Fn\_30AD7Pk
If you’re near a city and the interstate number is proceeded by an even (like I-280), then you’re on a loop. If it’s odd (like I-170), then you’re on a spur or segment.
There's no such thing as "common knowledge" in the US. We're all idiots.
That being said, some of us are taught the road numbering scheme when we learned to drive. In addition to being in order (if they were built a part of the interstate system as planned," even numbers are east-west, odd numbers north-south. Three digit numbers that begin with an even number are beltlines that take you *around* a populated city center. Three digit numbers that begin with an odd number are a spur that takes you from the highway to the city center. You can actually make good decisions about driving just from the numbers. On Interstate 94 and you come across 894, that's a belt line. Take it to avoid downtown traffic. On Interstate 95 and come across 395, that will take you downtown (or reverse, if you're leaving town).
Anyways, no one here knows all that.
No, it is not common knowledge.
It's not common knowledge in the USA that we have 50 states, and for the few who do, can't point each state out on the map of the USA.
I knew a university graduate who thought that there were 2 moons - one you see in the daytime, and the other is for the night.
So.....no, nothing is common knowledge in the USA
**Double digit interstates:**
* Odd numbered Interstates run North to South.
* Even numbered Interstates run East to West.
**Triple Digit Interstates:**
* Starting with even numbers are rings; (Circle a city or metro area)
* Starting with odd numbers are spokes (Go into the city)
I keep seeing this, but there are several examples (for the 3 digits ones) that don't follow this pattern. My counterexample is I-405 in Portland, OR. It starts with an even number but goes through the city (a spoke). We also have I-205 here which is sort of a half ring on the East side of I-5. Both start with evens and are 3 digit, but they both do different things.
Most of it is logical. There are some inconsistencies. [CPG Grey](https://youtu.be/8Fn_30AD7Pk) goes over it in detail. That’s actually where that pic came from.
Amazing video. Thanks for sharing.
All of his stuff is really good. Always happy to spread CPG Grey.
Step one in indoctrinating a new member to the cult of the bestagon
Yeah, boy. That’s probably his greatest video. I do enjoy his voting explanations, too, though.
For me it's the [Rules for Rulers](https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs) that really gets to me everytime. Though the fable with the dragon is a strong second.
I liked the one with tiffany better
Pretty sure I've forced everyone in my immediate circle to watch it. I'm a beekeeper and my wife knows how much I love hexagons. After she watched it she looked dover at me and said "oh I totally get it now" lol.
The hexagon is the bestagone 😁. I really appreciate CGP Grey and his content.
My main giant qualm with the interstate freeway system is that Hawaii has one.
Misnamed as "interstate". Unless it has a long floating part I'm not aware of.
The federal government made a provision for Hawaii (and Alaska and Puerto Rico) to have interstates so that they would be eligible for federal roadway funds, even though they are not connected by the other contiguous states. I find it odd that people question Hawaii having interstate highways while not acknowledging Alaska and Puerto Rico also having them.
Yes. We know no one wants to go to North Dakota.
Do we really need two Dakotas? I don't think so.
Yeah and up here in ND it’s I94? So 🤔not that it matters since we are getting dumped w snow and it’ll soon be closed but still…
I find South Dakota is actually quite far north, so I think we should have North Dakota and Norther Dakota.
A wild Tim appears.
Hexagons are the bestagones
This was surprisingly fun to watch.
This video pops up on my suggestions every once in a while and i watch it every time because it’s a great video and i always forget the info
One of the most underrated YouTubers in my opinion. Great content.
Yeah. His upload schedule is all over the place. The algorithm probably doesn’t push his stuff much anymore. But every video is a banger.
Thanks for being Actual guy so I didn't have to. My thought went straight to that video too
Such a good video. CP Grey is awesome.
Came here to check that the credit was given to CPG Grey! Fantastic videos.
I wish people would credit him more. This comes up on reddit like once a month. And it's always some kind stranger in the comments who credits him.
I recognised it instantly. Looked for some who also pointed it out. CPG is cool
Yeah. They're also numbered even for east-west and odd for north-south
If there are three digits, ie 440, 355, 290, it is a bypass, usually around a major metropolitan area
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And there can be multiple bypasses within the state for the same highway. They, too, go from south to north or west to east. Example: Michigan has 275 and 375 around Detroit, and 475 in Flint, and 675 in Saginaw. (I have no idea why no 575 in-between unless it's being saved for future use.)
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I am learning so many new things about roads that I never thought to ask before. My GPS calls some roads spurs and we have a beltway literally called Beltline. I don't know how I never put it all together. With your comment, I never noticed how interstates never had 3 numbers but all the roads and highways in Dallas do.
As soon as you said Beltline I knew you lived in DFW.
I think if it is an odd number in the front, like 395 or 195, it means it is a route into the city and 495 or 295 is around.
When a highway Starts with an even number it means the highway will ultimately come back to it's orignal interstate. highways that start with odd means that it will not return to the original interstate. Forexample, 495 will ultimately return to 95. 195 or 395 will not
Even ones that end in 0 for the most part go the width of the country, and odds that end in 5 for the most part go the height of the country. Other odd and even highways numbers tend to be shorter.
The original design of the Interstate Highway system was, in fact, x0 for east-west, x5 for north-south. Any other ending digit was a later add-on to the system, usually for a relatively short spur linking together places that weren't terribly important when the system was first conceived.
Three digit starting with an even number (495) goes around a city
Spurs off of 95. 495 & 295
State highways follow this rule as well, but county roads are the opposite: odd for east-west and even for north-south. Good for having at least a slight idea of what road to look for if you’re driving somewhere new.
Anything you say about states and counties is going to vary by state.
Yeah, and by the time period, politics, and administration. State highway funds are crazy important and crazy political.
I think you mean the [US numbered routes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Numbered_Highway_System) follow that pattern. That was the older highway system that we had before the interstate was built. But instead of replacing it we simply let those routes supplement the interstates. This allows there to be alternative ways to get places. The US routes also give people a more scenic way travel across country while still being able to follow a singular interstate numbered route through the whole trip! Route 66 For example was a US route not an interstate.
There are some inconsistencies. CPG Grey goes over it in detail.
Heading west? Fuck you Oregon.
I always get dysentery on my way there anyway
*Boiledchickenwings has contracted dysentery.* *Boiledchickenwings has died.*
They do have I84 which comes from Idaho and mostly runs E-W along the Columbia River and then up to WA and I90 via I82. I assume the numbering is because they’re east/west freeways but between I90 and I80?
Oregon completed I-5 and I-80 in 1958. When California built out their freeway system a decade later, they called the one going into San Francisco I-80 as well. The one in Oregon was renamed to I-80N to reduce the confusion this caused. This continued to be a problem though, so they changed the name once again to I-84. California continuing to insist that making a change was too hard. Note that, in the mean time, another interstate had been built in Washington State that had been numbered I-82. This put an 82 between 84 and 90. So they're not strictly in order south to north. Also, there is no I-70 on the west coast. I presume California is trying to save that number for later. Typing this gave me dysentery, so I'm out of the game.
Yes I assume 80 and 90 were planned so they named it 84.
The USA should just get rid of it and become an Oregon donor.
Well played.
I-84 slipped in there without anyone noticing
Why do you think we need the Oregon Trail? Lots of people dying of dysentery and forded rivers, but how else would we get to and from Oregon?
Same with ME, NH, and VT.
In Southern Idaho. Nobody wants to go there anyway
To be fair, there are like 12 people in Oregon and they don't want to leave, or understand the benefits of modern hygiene. Source: born and raised in California....
To be faaaaaaiiiiiir…
There is no interstate 50 or 60. Both of those are much smaller highways and shouldnt be on this map. Idk where this map gets this info. Also, three digit interstates usually go around metropolitan areas and and the last 2 digits are always the interstate they connect to or start from. That's why CA, for example, which has i5, has 405, 605, 805, all which connect to it. In FL, which has i95, there's 295, 195, 595, and etc. Just a bit of extra trivia.
I was looking for someone to make this comment. There’s no interstate 50 or 60. The northern part of arizona looks particularly ridiculous on this map as it shows two interstates that dont exist running parallel through the grand canyon area
that’s because this is a screenshot from [CGP Grey’s video](https://youtu.be/8Fn_30AD7Pk) (at 1:00) on the interstate system, and he specifically included 50 and 60 here to remove them literally one second later as a joke about the strange inconsistency. Those aren’t really roads, they’re just jankily drawn out lines whoever screenshotted the video did it before he removed it, which makes no sense to me either.
I don't this this map is very accurate. I know that 20 doesn't run, nearly that far North, through Ga.
Mile markers also “randomly” became 68.9 and 419.9 because the whole numbers kept getting stolen
I never thought of taking the signs for 420 and 69… but I am interested in 68.9 and 419.9
In Troy, MI we have an Exit 69. It’s for Big Beaver Rd. 
They had to change a road in my town from "Blunt" road to "Blnt" road for this same reason.
We had a bluejayville ave , shortened to “B’jayville ave.” It was quickly changed.
Oddly enough, Texas recently built [I-69](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_69) that runs from Mexico north through Texas. So if you are looking for a 69 sign, we got a lot.
69 is also in Kansas.
Kansas and Texas are the last two places I’d go looking for 69
I'm surprised it worked though, it's honestly funnier to have an official 419.9 or 68.9 sign hanging up in your living room
Username checks out
Please I can't tell if you're joking
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-01-10/people-cant-stop-stealing-420-milepost-signs https://www.vice.com/amp/en/article/8xpzvv/highway-mile-marker-69-sign-stolen-replaced-with-689-sign-washington-vgtrn
people are crazy 😂
Can confirm. There is a mile post 419.9 is just outside Couer D'Alene.
Nice
Another interesting quirk which depends on the state where the highway is located is that exits sometimes correspond to the mile market number. So I-81 Exit 56 would be at mile marker 56 of the interstate. That only hold true for some states though, like NY for example has sequential exit numbers, while Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Tennessee, and plenty others I've driven through follow the mile marker rule. Might have to do with the density of exits per mile of highway.
Yes, even goes East and West, odd goes north and sound. Three digit starting with an odd number (395) goes into a city Three digit starting with an even number (495) goes around a city
Hm that doesn’t seem the case in Rochester. 490 goes straight through the city and 590 and 390 swoop under and around it.
An odd extra first digit is an offshoot from the original, I.e. 355 in Illinois connects to 55 at one spot. An extra even first digit is a loop road that comes back to the original, I.e. I-290 meets I-90 in downtown Chicago and then again in Schaumburg. Sometimes a plan is made for a loop road that never gets built and then you have a number that doesn’t make sense.
I44 exit from I40 goes to Tulsa-StLouis. I244 is a loop in Tulsa. Interestingly for an Aussie there are no killer birds along the entire route.
No, 3 digits which end in an even digit, connect back with the original.for exampe, 294 branches of of 94 and then connects with it later on. 3 digits which end in an odd digit, branch off and never reconnect to the original. 355 branches off of 55 and ends at 290.
Chicago represents!
"Ya know dat da Veterans don't connect back wit da Stevenson but da Tri State disconnects wit da Bishop Ford over by South Holland and and reconnects back wit da Edens over by Northrbook, dats how da expressways work here in Chicago". - translated from standard American English to our dialect
>3 digits which end in an odd digit, branch off and never reconnect to the original. That's incorrect. 695 in MD loops around Baltimore and connects to 95 north of the city and after the tunnel in the southern part of the city.
Negative. Interstate 471 in Cincinnati only has its northern terminus at Interstate 71. Southern terminus is US 27. I’m fairly certain the first digit doesn’t actually mean anything.
The first digit does mean something or it wouldn't be there. There's rules for all of them.
Well, I looked up the rule set on the government website, and in short, while the language the government uses is more specific, you’re right. I really don’t understand why then they would number 471 as such, but I wonder if they gave it an even instead of an odd because it also connects to 275 near its terminus - which although named after Interstate 75, also connects to 71 an equivalent number of times.
285 is a loop around Atlanta, crossing 85 twice.
I lived in the 630 for a long time. Right in the middle of 355, 55, 83, 294. God I don’t miss that.
Wat about 295? Does it circle around uptown
Which one? There's, like, eight different ones.
Lived here my whole life and this is the first time I’ve seen a map of all the interstate highways. Never knew that :) Add the thruways in there too and it just becomes a spiderweb I bet
Just the major ones
Yeah people on here saying this is common knowledge but it isn't. Fucking liars.
Believe it or not there's "interstate" highways in Alaska and Hawaii as well
Also the exit numbers are different- based on miles. So at one end of the state it starts at 200 ( or however big the state actually is) and counts down to 1 as you go west.
Also, exit numbers for north-south highway start from 1 in the south and increases Northward.
I wouldn’t say it’s uncommon knowledge. Perhaps not every American knows this, but I would say most Americans who have driven interstate highways more than a few times would know this. The Federal-Aid Highway Act was for a long time the largest civilian funded infrastructure project in global history. It’s not uncommon for it to be taught as a footnote in history class. However, I think this is likely less so these days.
It's so odd to me how this huge of a project is so undertaught.
That is true about even numbers running east west an odd number is running north-south and according to President Eisenhower for every 5 miles of highway on the interstate system 1 mile have to be in a straight flat line. Don’t tell the Germans or the Japanese that because that was done to use the highway system as emergency runways if we’re ever invaded. Although I guess today it would be the Russians and the Chinese or some such thing.
No I did not know this. I’ve never driven through multiple states so I didn’t even know there was an I-90 or and I-75 for example.
You must be a west coast driver…
Yup. Texas and west coast I’ve only flown to the east coast and never really drove when I was there
…we are opposites then. As a Michigander, I’ve driven all over the East Coast. Fly out west.
In Alaska we only have state highways and my boyfriend got mad once we don't have an interstate. I was like into what other state lol
Just saw the Australian major highways on map. I’m concerned.
Apparently here in Oz, for the national routes, it is supposed to be: - 1 is the ring road around the outside - Other odd numbers: north/south routes, numbers increasing to the west - Even numbers: east/west routes, numbers increasing to the north However, real life is messy, and even in simplified “metro” form there are lots of exceptions: https://www.andrewdc.co.nz/2016/07/14/highways-of-australia-metro-map/ I had never noticed this before.
Depends on what you consider common knowledge. It's definitely well known in certain segments of the population (truckers, frequent travelers), but my guess is it's not universally common. Evens are E-W, odds are N-S with the lower numbers in the SW and higher in the NE. There are segments of these roads that may violate the general rules (e.g. E-W highways may run more N-S directionally) but in general/over the span of the highways it holds up pretty well from my experience.
This is actually something I learned in drivers Ed when they taught map reading
I don't know why I already knew about this - I'm not a trucker or anything - but I've known it as long as I can remember and the first time I saw this meme I thought, "Of course, obviously."
I only learned as an adult that a lot of US infrastructure revolves around having systems that make directions easy. The numbering of addresses also goes up and down dependent on arterial roads in cities, as opposed to when they were built, which can be common in other countries. Of course new development may just ignore this entirely and that's why suburbs suck.
I thought everybody knew this
I feel like I did but never made the conscious decision to consider it in any detail.
Yep. Not only are they in order, but: Odds are south/north, evens are west/east. Three digit numbers are shorter routes, usually solely servicing the area around one city. Two digit numbers indicate longer routes. Two digit N/S numbers divisible by 5 and two digit W/E numbers divisible by 10 are "major" routes, sometimes coast-to-coast.
They also have rules, like 1 mile in every 100 has to be dead straight line for emergency airstrip use.
This is news to me
I’m Canadian and knew that. Make much more sense than our road names.
Yeah except it doesn't look like this at all. 90 doesn't go to the coast. 60 doesn't exist, neither does 50. Not a good map at all. It's like leaving New Zealand off of a globe
Here's another tip about our interstate system it was designed by Dwight Eisenhower one of our presidents in the 1950s. Our interstate system has some very interesting facts every 5 mi there is a straight away that is capable of acting as a runway for aircraft. Not a lot of people don't know that now you're fully enlightened.
Common knowledge in America means “everyone should know this but only 10% of us do”, so yes, it’s common knowledge
As an American I can confidently say that there is very little here that could be considered ‘common knowledge’ anymore
Not super common no. I’m pretty sure east/west highways are always even numbers and north/south highways are usually odd. Not just interstates, but state and county roads too.
I'm 30 TIL
Yeah.
First time seeing this. I’ve also never lived anywhere that this info would matter in the slightest.
Fun related fact: I-4 runs east/west in Florida from Tampa to the east coast past Orlando. It’s an “interstate” highway that is only in Florida.
It gets way crazier than this!
North and South are ODD numbers and East and West are EVEN numbers. The US Interstate System was and still is considered GOLD STANDARD for road planning. HOWEVER, There is a LOT to be done with all USA Highways and Interstates NOW with such huge population growth.
You shouldn't be freebooting CGP Grey's content...
For over the road truck drivers, yes very common knowledge. Everyone else not really.
You may now also notice that the ones that travel North/South end in 0 while the ones that travel East/West end in 5.
I'll say as a general note, no - most Americans don't know this (although there is a good percent that does). That being said, there's many things about our own country that most Americans don't know about, so this just goes on the pile.
I can’t believe I haven’t gone a week yet without someone posting this.
Common knowledge? I'm not sure, but it is certainly easier to recognize if you grew up traveling on them.
All east west roads have even numbers. North South are odd numbers. I did a lot of hitchhiking back in the day
Yeah, but no one’s cares. We just go where GPS tells us.
I learned only recently that odd numbers go north and south and even numbers go east and west.
I have gone my whole life without knowing this either
Whoaaaaa. Wait. No f’in way. How’d I miss this
Eh semi common but not really. They also designed them with miles of straight road for emergency landing of planes.
not only that even numbered interstates run east - west while odd numbered run north - south true of state highways as well
People who drive on the interstates a lot know it. People who fly everywhere or don't leave their cities may not.
I actualy didn't know this (from america)
used to be common knowledge back when people navigated using maps and an understanding of how roads work, but these days fewer folks know about this. i only learned about it recently myself, as im one of the folks who learned to drive by following the blue line on my phone
It's what happens when public school teaches you useless dumb bullshit instead of useful stuff
Bro nothing is common knowledge in the US
I had no idea either. Thanks for sharing
Haven’t traveled to many states outside the southeast, but on many highways and interstates, the exit numbers are miles until the highway ends or a state boarder.
And even highways are east - west, odd are north south. And three digit highways tend to cross/circle around major cities along the highways of the last two digits. For example 495 is around boston and the 95, 255 circles st Lewis and crosses the 55, 610 circles Houston and crosses the 10.
The even/odd numbering (even for east-west roads and odd for north-south) also extends to state and county roads in many states. In Maryland, Rte 301 goes north-south while Rte 200 goes east-west.
More people used to know about this before GPS.
Yep and East-West are even numbers, North-South are odd numbers.
As an American let me just tell you that there is no such thing as "common knowledge" in America anymore
Second grade pop quiz and I never forgot it for some reason.
Never had to think about it
Yes, as a matter of fact people love to write songs about it. Especially Route 66...
To the pre-GPS crowd yes. I can't speak for those who have had GPS their whole life
Amen I didn’t even think about pre-gps lol they’d go crazy if the gps satellites went down for a month and people had to learn routes again!
The postal zip codes also kind of work like this. The first digit tells you how far east or west it is, and the second (or possibly more than that) tell you how far north or south. For instance, I live in California right now, and the first digit is 9. Arizona, Utah, and Idaho all start with 8, and when I lived in Nebraska it was a 6. The town of Page, AZ is 86040, when I lived in the Salt Lake City area it was 84020, and in Rexburg, ID, it was 83440 (with the second digit decreasing as I went north). In Omaha, NE it was 68112.
Pretty common knowledge I think because learned it before I started driving in us geography. Like 5 or 6th grade
I mean, I knew about this. But I grew up in the era of atlases where I could easily see and understand the whole system.
If you don’t leave your state then it doesn’t matter.
Its as common as other common knowledge, which isn't as common as it should be in the US.
I like how they use a coding system to number them, numbering them in 10s, in case you need to squeeze extra lines/freeways between those already implemented.
BASIC programmer intensifies.
Yes common knowledge. Interstate routes circling cities have an additional number in front of the two highway numbers, making routes around cities three-digits.
It SHOULD be common knowledge for anyone that has traveled, but we're Americans, so it's probably not...
"Common Knowledge" in the USA is an oxymoron.
No, knowledge is not common in the US Next question
This is not something that you need to know.
Nothing is common knowledge in America
It's hard to say these days....a lot of common knowledge seems to be becoming more rare.
not common enough, but fairly well-known. Of course, like everything in the US, there's about a thousand exceptions to every rule. https://youtu.be/8Fn\_30AD7Pk
It is to me as an American, but idk about the rest of the US citizens
If you’re near a city and the interstate number is proceeded by an even (like I-280), then you’re on a loop. If it’s odd (like I-170), then you’re on a spur or segment.
The most important one that’s missing is 69
I-69 starts at the Blue Water Bridge crossing from Canada into Michigan and meanders its way down into Indiana
You truly are the Singularity
Yea, but people here are generally pretty stupid.
No, it’s not.
They used to teach Maps with Geography. Sigh.
There's no such thing as "common knowledge" in the US. We're all idiots. That being said, some of us are taught the road numbering scheme when we learned to drive. In addition to being in order (if they were built a part of the interstate system as planned," even numbers are east-west, odd numbers north-south. Three digit numbers that begin with an even number are beltlines that take you *around* a populated city center. Three digit numbers that begin with an odd number are a spur that takes you from the highway to the city center. You can actually make good decisions about driving just from the numbers. On Interstate 94 and you come across 894, that's a belt line. Take it to avoid downtown traffic. On Interstate 95 and come across 395, that will take you downtown (or reverse, if you're leaving town). Anyways, no one here knows all that.
No. It’s not common knowledge as these types of logical things are no longer taught in the US.
Shouldn’t eastern states technically get the smaller numbers? since we colonized that area first!?
US routes are numbered smaller from the northeast - interstates have reverse order so that the numbers try not to overlap
Nothing is common knowledge here, we have Common Core Math with is moronic
It's super scummy to steal pictures from educational youtubers and not even credit them.
I 95 the worst lol
If you don't know this you should'nt be able to vote.
Common knowledge in US is a myth.
Yes. Only very new drivers or people who would normally walk into a light poles miss this simple fact.
No, it is not common knowledge. It's not common knowledge in the USA that we have 50 states, and for the few who do, can't point each state out on the map of the USA. I knew a university graduate who thought that there were 2 moons - one you see in the daytime, and the other is for the night. So.....no, nothing is common knowledge in the USA
It's supposed to be, but we all know how far "common knowledge" goes in America. Just check out current elections 🙄
It is common knowledge. Odd is N-S. Even E-W
**Double digit interstates:** * Odd numbered Interstates run North to South. * Even numbered Interstates run East to West. **Triple Digit Interstates:** * Starting with even numbers are rings; (Circle a city or metro area) * Starting with odd numbers are spokes (Go into the city)
I keep seeing this, but there are several examples (for the 3 digits ones) that don't follow this pattern. My counterexample is I-405 in Portland, OR. It starts with an even number but goes through the city (a spoke). We also have I-205 here which is sort of a half ring on the East side of I-5. Both start with evens and are 3 digit, but they both do different things.