An expandable, modular, multi-mode lavatory for aircraft featuring its multi-mode use as a lavatory, shower and accommodations for handicapped persons. An increase in optical output is made possible not by reducing reflection as with conventional optical components, but on the contrary by actually producing reflection. Specifically the load is determined and then compared to threshold levels associated with the different metering modes to choose the metering mode for use a given point in time. Another example of a type of a route symbol that represents a road is an highway route symbol that looks substantially the same as a highway route sign used to mark a state highway.