List of Public Signage Typefaces

Typeface Used by Notes Image Achemine [fr] SNCF, France Created in 2008 to improve station accessibility Alfabeto Normale [it] and Alfabeto Stretto [it] Road signs in Italy, San Marino and Vatican City
Road signs in Albania Alfabeto Normale is a bolder variant of the British Transport typeface.^[1] Alfabeto Stretto is a condensed version of Alfabeto Normale. Both fonts have their own positive (for dark-coloured text on light backgrounds) and negative (for light-coloured text on dark backgrounds) versions. Antique Olive California Department of Transportation Some regulatory signs Arial Austria Austria Being phased out since 2013 Avant Garde KAI Commuter rail network in Indonesia (before 2021) Now gradually replaced with Circular in 2021, with remaining old signages still in place. Avenir Macau Light Rapid Transit
Dublin Airport
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Metro Transit^[4] AXIS Font [ja] Japanese and English signage: Hisatsu Orange Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Seibu Railway^[2] Bembo Smithsonian signage in Washington D.C. Bodoni English signage: Yokohama Minatomirai Railway^[2] (Minatomirai Line) Bashamichi Station Brusseline Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company Calibri English signage: Tōyō Rapid Railway^[2] Calvert Tyne & Wear Metro, United Kingdom.^[5][6] Caractères France Used for road signs in France and in some countries in Africa. In France it is used in four variants known as L1, L2, L4, L5. Its usage is mandated by the Interministerial Instruction on Road Signs and Signals (Instruction Interministérielle sur la Signalisation Routière)^[7] Carretera convencional [es] Directorate-General for Traffic
Road signs in Spain Proprietary typeface commissioned for this purpose, used on intracity road signs. Derived from the Transport typeface. Casey Singapore MRT (since 2019)
Changi Airport (since 2022) Used by Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation until its merger with MTR in 2007. Being gradually replaced by Myriad, which is used by MTR on its networks. Cast^[8] Most Taiwanese urban rail systems (since 2022) Designed by Dominique Kerber Century Gothic English signage: Kōbe New Transit^[2], Nagaragawa Railway^[2] Cezanne (セザンヌ) Japanese signage: Iyo Railway^[2] (Iyotetsu) Circular Transport for West Midlands (since 2018)^[9]
Kereta Api Indonesia (since 2020)^[10] Clarendon U.S. National Park Service road signs^[11] Used by Public Transport Company in Poznań as the typeface for its fleet vehicles numbering Clearview Developed to replace U.S. FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) typefaces^[11] Dansk Vejtavleskrift Road signs in Denmark^[12] Derived from the Transport typeface Deutsche Bahn WLS Deutsche Bahn station signage^[13] Developed in close reference to Helvetica DF Heisei Gothic (DF平成ゴシック) Japanese signage: Chikuhō Electric Railroad^[2] (Chikutetsu) DF Kaisho (DF楷書) Japanese signage: Tsugaru Railway^[2] DF Maru Gothic (DF丸ゴシック) Japanese and English signage: Aizu Railway^[2], Noto Railway^[2]
English signage: Gakunan Electric Train^[2], Izuhakone Railway^[2] DF Reisho (DF隷書) Japanese and English signage: Fuji Kyūkō^[2] (Fujikjyū), Odakyū Hakone^[2] (Hakone Tozan Railway)
Japanese signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway^[2] (Mojikō Retro Scenic Line) DIN 1451 Road signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties
Road signs in Germany
Road signs in the Czech Republic
Road signs in Latvia
Road signs in the Southern African Development Community
Road signs in Brunei
Road signs in Singapore
Road signs in Syria
Bengaluru Metro (Namma Metro) signage
Kansai International Airport (KIX) (since 2022)
English signage: Keisei Electric Railway^[2] The DIN typeface was used for regulatory and warning Signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties.

Also used in the Greek motorway network
The DIN typeface for the Namma Metro is in English and Kannada.

The DIN typeface is currently in the process of gradually replacing the Frutiger typeface for Kansai Airport during its renovations in preparation for Expo 2025.

Drogowskaz Polish road signage typeface One of a few digitalisations; officially the typeface used in Polish road signs has no defined name. Esseltub Previously used in Stockholm Metro FIP signage typeface Government of Canada A modified version of Helvetica Medium used by the Government of Canada^[14] FF Fago ADIF Used as official font for signage system of all Spanish railway stations owned by the state-owned administrator, ADIF FF Meta Stockholm Metro
Caltrans
Birmingham Airport
TransLink (British Columbia) Some mile marker signs FF Transit Developed by MetaDesign for Berlin's public transport company BVG and later adopted by other transport systems. Contains many pictograms for signage. Based on Frutiger.^[15] FF Scala Sans Los Angeles Metro FHWA Series typeface (Highway Gothic)^[11] Road signs in the Americas, Australasia, China, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey Developed for U.S. road signage
Formerly used on Spanish motorways
Turkey uses two typefaces on road signs based on this typeface – O-Serisi for motorways and E-Serisi for all other roads. Folk (フォーク) Japanese and English signage: Ainokaze Toyama Railway^[2] Freight Sans Kempegowda International Airport Frutiger The Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1975. It has also been used for regulatory and warning signs in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo Counties. Futura Italian railways^[25]
Street signs in Stockholm Giaothong1 and Giaothong2^[26] Vietnam Modification of DIN 1451 typeface with Vietnamese extension Gill Sans British Railways (until 1965)
Transperth
English signage: Maihama Resort Line^[2] (Disney Resort Line) Also the official font for all the signage system of the Spanish Government. Modified variant of Gill Sans Bold Condensed used on road signs in former East Germany until 1990.^[27][28] Gona (ゴナ) Japanese and English signage: Mōka Railway^[2], Yagan Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Chizu Express^[2], IR Ishikawa Railway^[2], Kantō Railway^[2] (Kantetsu), Kashima Rinkai Railway^[2], Manyōsen^[2]
English signage: Kōnan Railway^[2] A Gothic typeface released by Shaken in 1975, it was once extremely popular as the typeface for railway signage in Japan. However, until October 2024 ^[29], it was only available for phototypesetting and not as a digital font for desktop publishing, which made it difficult to use. In contrast, a similar typeface called Shin Go, released by rival company Morisawa in 1990, was compatible with desktop publishing from start. As a result, many railway operators have since transitioned to using Shin Go. Gothic 4550 (ゴシック4550) Japanese and English signage: IGR Iwate Galaxy Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Kyoto Municipal Subway^[2], Nankai Electric Railway^[2], Wakayama Electric Railway^[2] Gothic MB101 (ゴシックMB101) Japanese signage: Mizuma Railway^[2] Goudy Old Style Used on Victoria PTC railway station signs in the 1990s, replacing the green The Met signs. The blue Metlink signs replaced these signs in 2003 after a short trial of Connex signs (using Verdana) at Mitcham and Rosanna stations. Hangil Road signs in South Korea A Hangul typeface designed by Sandoll Communications in 2008, being used on traffic signs throughout the entire South Korea except for some part of Seoul, along with Panno. Heisei Kaku Gothic (平成角ゴシック) Japanese and English signage: Nishikigawa Railway^[2], Okayama Electric Tramway^[2], Yuri Kōgen Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Chiba Urban Monorail^[2], Gakunan Electric Train^[2]
English signage: Amagi Railway^[2] Helvetica Formerly used the Hong Kong MTR, Stockholm Metro, ÖBB,^[31] Deutsche Bundesbahn^[31] portions of the LACMTA system and the Melbourne MTA, and some Toronto subway station signage.
Less commonly, the typeface is used on street signs in the United States, including in some suburbs of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, parts of Pennsylvania, and by the Contra Costa County Transportation Authority.
Previously used on road signs in Japan and South Korea. Helvetica Neue

Metlink/Public Transport Victoria
Swiss Federal Railways
Street signs in Pinole
Road signs in Catalonia

Being phased out on the Victorian public transport network in favour of Network Sans, but still commonly seen.
SBB uses its own version of Neue Helvetica named SBB^[32] and named "Helvetica Semi-Bold Corrected" by its designer Josef Müller-Brockmann^[31] in the SBB Design Manual. HG Maru Gothic (HG丸ゴシック) Japanese and English signage: Kurobe Gorge Railway^[2], Nose Electric Railway^[2] (Noseden), Tenryū Hamanako Railroad^[2]
English signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway^[2] (Mojikō Retro Scenic Line) HGS Gothic (HGSゴシック) Japanese and English signage: Ise Railway^[2], Sapporo Municipal Subway^[2] Hiragino NEXCO East Japan
NEXCO Central Japan
NEXCO West Japan Japan Highway Public Corporation (divided into three NEXCO group companies in 2005) used its own JH Standard Text until 2010. Since 2010, Hiragino is used for Japanese text, Frutiger for numbers, and Vialog for English text.^[33] Hiragino Kaku Go (ヒラギノ角ゴ) Japanese and English signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway^[2] (Ita, Itoda, and Tagawa Lines)
Japanese signage: Hankai Tramway^[2], Kōbe Municipal Subway^[2] (Kaigan and Seishin-Yamate Lines), Sagami Railway^[2] (Sōtetsu) Hiragino UD Kaku Go (ヒラギノUD角ゴ) Japanese and English signage: Sendai Subway^[2]
Japanese signage: Osaka Metro^[2] (All lines except for the Nankō Port Town Line), Sendai Airport Transit^[2] Iwata Shin Gothic (イワタ新ゴシック) Japanese signage: Toei Nippori-Toneri Liner^[2] Iwata UD Gothic (イワタUDゴシック) Japanese and English signage: Enshū Railway^[2] (Entetsu)
Japanese signage: Keisei Electric Railway^[2], Kintetsu Railway^[2], Kōbe Municipal Subway^[2] (Hokushin Line), Shizuoka Railway^[2], Yurikamome^[2] Iwata UD Maru Gothic (イワタUD丸ゴシック) Japanese signage: Hankyū Railway^[2], Tōyō Rapid Railway^[2] JNR-L Japanese and English signage: JR Central^[2] (Shinkansen)
English signage: JR Central^[2] (non-Shinkansen), JR-Central Transport Service^[2] (TKJ) A typeface developed and used by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR), based on Sumi Maru Gothic. Today, it is used exclusively by the JR Central Group. Johnston Transport for London Some Citybus and New World First Bus route displays in Hong Kong JTC Win (JTCウイン) Japanese and English signage: Ibara Railway^[2], Jōmō Electric Railway^[2], Nagasaki Electric Tramway^[2], Shinano Railway^[2] Jun (じゅん) Japanese signage: Kōbe New Transit^[2], Osaka Metro^[2] (Nankō Port Town Line) Kaku Gothic-tai Ca (角ゴシック体Ca) Japanese signage: Eizan Electric Railway^[2] Kokutesu-ppoi Font (国鉄っぽいフォント) Japanese and English signage: Ōigawa Railway^[2] A free font influenced by Japanese National Railways (JNR) style typefaces, such as Sumimaru Gothic and JNR-L. Kozuka Gothic (小塚ゴシック) English signage: Tosaden Kōtsū^[2] Kozuka Minchō (小塚明朝) Japanese signage: Maihama Resort Line^[2] (Disney Resort Line) LLM Lettering Road signs in Malaysia. Based on the Italian Alfabeto Normale and Alfabeto Stretto LogoG (ロゴG) Japanese signage: Hanshin Electric Railway^[2] LTA Identity Typeface Singapore MRT^[34] Lucida Sans Unicode English signage: Shizuoka Railway^[2] Mark Pro Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality^[35] Meiryo (メイリオ) Japanese and English signage: Kōbe Electric Railway^[2] (Shintetsu) Metrolis Lisbon Metro Custom font for the 1995 rebranding, designed by the Foundry (Freda Sack and David Quay) Metron Prague Metro Created in 1973 by Jiří Rathouský Midashi Go (見出ゴ) Japanese signage: Sapporo Streetcar^[2] Moscow Sans Public transport and wayfinding in Moscow since 2015 Custom font family by Scott Williams and Henrik Kubel (A2-TYPE) in collaboration with Ilya Ruderman (CSTM Fonts) Motorway Motorway route numbers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The numerals are used for exit numbers and route numbers in Portugal. MS Gothic (MS ゴシック) Japanese signage: Isumi Railway^[2], Saitama New Urban Transit^[2] (New Shuttle) Myriad Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway
Korail (for English signage)
Seoul Metro (for English signage)
English signage: Chikuhō Electric Railroad^[2] (Chikutetsu), Isumi Railway^[2], Matsuura Railway^[2], Nagoya Municipal Subway^[2], Yokohama Municipal Subway^[2]
Signage at Istanbul Airport Myriad Pro PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe^[36] and PKP Intercity^[37] Myriad Pro Semibold with kerning increased by 25% is used for train station signage. Additional text in foreign languages is set in Italic (English and neighbor languages for stations in border areas).

Myriad Pro Light, Regular, Bold, and their Italic counterparts are used by PKP Intercity in printed communication (leaflets, folders, etc.)

Nar (ナール) Japanese and English signage: Abukuma Express^[2], Jōshin Electric Railway^[2], Nagano Electric Railway^[2] (Nagaden), Toyama Chihō Railway^[2] (All lines except for the Toyamakō Line), Yamagata Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Kishū Railway^[2], Kitakyūshū Urban Monorail^[2], Kōnan Railway^[2]
English signage: Manyōsen^[2] Neris Manila MRT signage (since 2016) Network Sans^[38] Transport for Victoria
Public Transport Victoria Replaced Helvetica Neue New Frank Transport for New South Wales, Australia Used for all transport signage around Sydney and New South Wales. New Rubrik Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines Replacement for Helvetica on airport signage News Gothic NYC Subway (Mid 20th Century)
Aena airports in Spain Used on the NYC Subway in the mid 20th century Nimbus Sans Used for Digital PIDS on the Washington Metro Noorda [it] Milan Metro^[39] Variation of Akzidenz-Grotesk with shorter ascenders and descenders Now (ナウ) Japanese signage: Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit^[2] (Rinkai Line), Yokohama Minatomirai Railway^[2] (Minatomirai Line) Motomachi-Chūkagai Station
English signage: Toyohashi Railroad^[2] (Toyotetsu) NPS Rawlinson United States National Park Service Developed as a replacement for Clarendon^[11] NR Brunel United Kingdom railway stations
Iarnród Éireann station signage Primarily major stations managed by Network Rail in Britain, introduced in the mid-1990s NS Sans Nederlandse Spoorwegen^[40] Based on Frutiger typeface Panno Road signs in South Korea A Latin typeface being used on traffic signs throughout the entire South Korea except for some part of Seoul, along with Hangil. Parisine Paris Métro
English signage: Osaka Metro^[2] (All lines except for the Nankō Port Town Line) Pragmatica Saint Petersburg Metro (since 2002) Currently (2010–11) being replaced by Freeset, Cyrillic variation of Frutiger PT Sans Public transport in Jakarta (Jak Lingko) since 2021: TransJakarta, Jakarta MRT, Jakarta LRT Rail Alphabet British Rail^[31]
British Airports Authority
DSB^[31]
NHS
Road signs in Iran Designed for British Rail in 1964. Still in use on parts of the UK rail network, but mostly superseded elsewhere. Rail Alphabet 2 United Kingdom railway stations An evolution of Rail Alphabet commissioned by Network Rail and planned for use on new station signage projects from 2020 onwards Road UA [uk] Road signs in Ukraine (since 2021)^[41] Created by Andriy Konstantinov. Roadgeek 2000 Argentina^[42] Based on the FHWA Series typeface (B, C, D and E only) Roboto LRT Jakarta
MRT Jakarta
SEPTA Metro Used in LRT Jakarta and MRT Jakarta on both physical (before 2021, now replaced altogether with PT Sans under Jak Lingko initiative) and digital signages on existing rolling stock
First SEPTA Metro signage installed in 2024 Rodin (ロダン) Japanese and English signage: Echizen Railway^[2], Hitachinaka Seaside Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Amagi Railway^[2], Keifuku Electric Railroad^[2] (Randen) Rodoviária Road signs in Portugal (prior to 1998) Typeface very similar to the Transport typeface, combined with FHWA Series Roman Minchō (浪漫明朝) Japanese signage: Kumagawa Railway^[2] Rotis Sans Serif English signage: Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company^[2] (Tsukuba Express), Yokohama Minatomirai Railway^[2] (Minatomirai Line) Minatomirai, Nihon-ōdōri and Shin-takashima Stations Rotis Semi Sans Metro Bilbao
English signage: Sagami Railway^[2] (Sōtetsu) Used by its own creator, Otl Aicher, for the corporate design of Metro Bilbao Rotis Semi Serif Station signs of Sound Transit^[43] Rotis Serif Street signposts in Singapore Ruta CL Road signs in Chile^[44] Ryūmin (リュウミン) Japanese signage: Yokohama Minatomirai Railway^[2] (Minatomirai Line) Bashamichi Station Seoul Type Seoul Metropolitan Government Developed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2008 for usage in official Seoul Metropolitan Government documents and institutions, signage and public transport within Seoul. The structure was designed to resemble the gradual curves of a traditional hanok roof. Seurat (スーラ) Japanese and English signage: Hokuriku Railroad^[2] (Hokutetsu), Minamiaso Railway^[2], Nishi-Nippon Railroad^[2] (Nishitetsu), Wakasa Railway^[2]
Japanese signage: Kumamoto Electric Railway^[2], Shibayama Railway^[2], Toyohashi Railroad^[2] (Toyotetsu) Shin Go (新ゴ) Japanese and English signage: Aichi Loop Line (Aikan), Akechi Railway, Fukui Railway, Fukushima Transportation, Izukyū Corporation (Izu Kyūkō), Keiō Corporation, Kita-Osaka Kyūkō Railway (Kitakyū), Shimabara Railway, Tarumi Railway, Ueda Electric Railway
Japanese signage: Many (more than 50) Japanese railway operators ^{[note 3][2]} A Gothic typeface released by Morisawa in 1990, it is currently the most widely used typeface for railway signage in Japan. It is used by many Japanese railway operators, including all Japan Railways (JR) companies except JR Central. Shin Maru Go (新丸ゴ) Japanese and English signage: Chōshi Electric Railway^[2], Hokusō Railway^[2], Iga Railway^[2]
English signage: Tsugaru Railway^[2] Shūei Shogō Minchō (秀英初号明朝) Japanese signage: Hakodate City Tram^[2] SimpleKölnBonn Cologne Bonn Airport Adaption of the Simple typeface from Norm (graphic design group). Commissioned by Intégral Ruedi Baur for their work on the airport's corporate design, which included the development of a large set of visually matching pictograms.^[45][46] Sispos and Sisneg Sweden Designed by Bo Berndal – old Swedish standard (SIS 030011, 1973) for public road signs, displays, etc. SL Gothic Stockholm transit system ^[47][48] Smalt Street signs in Prague^[49] SNV Road signs in Belgium
Road signs in Bulgaria
Road signs in Luxembourg
Road signs in Romania
Road signs in countries of the former Yugoslavia
Road signs in Switzerland (until 2003) Standard (also known as Akzidenz-Grotesk) New York City subway signs Sometimes seen on older New York City subway signs. Was sometimes used in place of Helvetica.^[50] Sumi Maru Gothic (スミ丸ゴシック) Japanese signage: JR Central^[2] (non-Shinkansen), JR-Central Transport Service^[2] (TKJ) A typeface developed and used by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR). Today, it is used exclusively by the JR Central Group. TB Gothic (TBゴシック) Japanese signage: Nagoya Rinkai Rapid Transit^[2] (Aonami Line), Yokohama Municipal Subway^[2] Tern Road signs in Austria
Road signs in Slovakia Developed by the International Institute for Information Design with the aim of unifying the road signage in all of the European Union.^[51]

Times New Roman Station signage for MARTA Tipografía México Road signs in Mexico^[52] Replaced former typeface based on FHWA Series that was used on Mexican road signs before 2023. Toronto Subway Toronto Transit Commission Used in maps, publications, and most stations of the Toronto subway^[53]

Trafikkalfabetet Road signs in Norway Used for Norwegian road signs and motor vehicle registration plates (until 2006) Transport Also used in Portugal, Greece (for non-motorways) and other countries.
An oblique variant is used in Ireland for Irish-language text. Tratex Road signs in Sweden TS Info and TS Mapa Transantiago Created by the DET (Departamento de Estudios Tipográficos, Universidad Católica de Chile) for the Transantiago, the public transport network in Santiago de Chile. UD Shin Go (UD新ゴ) Japanese and English signage: Okinawa Urban Monorail^[2] (Yui Rail), Yokkaichi Asunarou Railway^[2]
English signage: Saitama New Urban Transit^[2] (New Shuttle) UD Shin Maru Go (UD新丸ゴ) Japanese and English signage: Akina Nairiku Jūkan Railway^[2], Ichibata Electric Railway^[2] Univers Also used for the Walt Disney World road system (route numbers are in Highway Gothic).
Formerly used by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen,^[31] on the destination rolls of Comeng trains in Melbourne prior to refurbishment, as well as Hitachi trains which had their original destination rolls replaced in the 1980s with the Comeng type. Universal Grotesk Road signs in Czechoslovakia Previously used on road signs in Slovakia until 2015. Vectora Expressway route numbers in Japan Verdana English signage: Alpico Kōtsū^[2], Eizan Electric Railway^[2], Hanshin Electric Railway^[2] Vialog Renfe
English signage: Odakyū Electric Railway^[2]
English signage: Japanese expressway directional signage Used in signage and all corporate communications of the state-owned Spanish Railway Operator in a custom-made variant called Renfe Vialog. Wayfinding Sans Metro Rio
El Dorado International Airport
Santa Cruz
Kereta Api Indonesia (December 2016–20) Used in signage for Rio de Janeiro's metro system Metro Rio, El Dorado International Airport, the city of Santa Cruz, California and Indonesian Railway Company. Yū Gothic (游ゴシック) Japanese signage: Hiroshima Rapid Transit^[2] (Astram Line)