Snow lessons - be prepared says AA

Now that the snow has settled the AA says that there are lessons to be learnt from the transport chaos on Monday.

Whilst accepting that the amount of snow did cause exceptional problems particularly for the highway authorities the AA believes that the UK needs an action plan for extreme weather.

Areas for improvement include:

1. Information highways: Many websites collapsed or slowed down under the sheer weight of inquiries for rail or road information. The AA believes that essential sites should be more resilient. The AA website coped extremely well with its Roadwatch section recording 1.25m page impressions which equates to roughly 4 weeks of traffic in one day. Indeed, theAA.com recorded more than three million page impressions which is the biggest volume of traffic it has ever seen. All the AA information and advice pages saw a peak in traffic.

2. Bus highways: Part of the bus problem in London was linked to problems getting busses from ungritted depots onto the main roads. The AA believes that bus depots should be a gritting priority. The AA also suggests that in extreme weather an emergency bus or coach service should be provided and should concentrate on the Red Routes. Many people were stranded in London whereas an emergency red route bus service with North, South, East and West routes advertised on temporary Variable Message Signs would at least have served the key routes.

3. Slip highways: Whereas the key motorways were treated, there appeared to be problems on some of the slip roads or link roads to motorways. The AA questions whether this was due to different highway authorities having different responsibilities, and to a lack of joined-up responsibility.

4. Winter highways: Many London boroughs have limited winter maintenance budgets, but the AA believes that emergency contingency plans and special funding should be in place so that greater resources can be contracted in on these rare occasions. In rural areas the highway authorities often have contracts with farmers to increase snow ploughing capacity so the AA suggests that similar opportunities should be explored with civil engineering contractors in Metropolitan areas.

5. Super highways: Despite claims that 20% of employees were not working, the AA believes that a significant proportion were able to work from home due to laptop and broadband provision. The AA uses home workers to man call centres and believes that other employers could benefit from a flexible workforce.

Commenting on the travel situation across the UK, Edmund King, AA president said: “Many of the highway authorities were doing their best to keep key roads open but some were defeated by the depth and range of the snow. The grit and salt on many roads was ineffective due to the amount of snow and indeed snow being blown onto highways already cleared. Whilst improvements can and should be made in terms of planning for extreme weather conditions it is wrong to suggest that 20% of the population were not working.

“Many employees now adopt “Workwise” practices which allow key workers to be more flexible in terms of when and where they work. The provision of laptops, broadband and dial-in meeting facilities meant that a good proportion of those unable to physically get to the office along the highway were able to link to the office via the superhighway. For these employers, the loss in terms of productivity due to the failings of the transport system was minimised.

“The AA saw a 50% increase in breakdowns and insurance claims yesterday which indicates that motorists had real problems on the roads. Whilst these extreme weather conditions are a relatively rare occurrence, as a country we could be better prepared.”

There is still a risk of further major snow falls on Wednesday night and Thursday.

The AA also stresses that with the coldest winter for many years, the majority of UK highway authorities will see significant if not over expenditure on highway budgets – this must not become an excuse for cutbacks later on fixing the inevitable pot holes and damaged road surfaces. The government must step in and support local authorities if this winter emergency is going to jeopardise the condition of our roads later – it would be farcical if highway authorities have to pay out more in compensation than putting the roads right.