Travel Chaos

We have an unusual cold snap in Europe just now. I was in cold, cold Oslo on Tuesday, and saw a headline saying this had been the coldest November there for 90 years. It certainly felt it on the last day of November, as a foreign visitor without the right footwear. Nonetheless, it was sunny, and the pure air and light were a total joy to experience. It reminded me of the good part of living in Scandinavia.

Transport policy and effectiveness does seem very different in different countries. I wonder if places learn from each other. Of course the population densities and climates vary a lot, but it is strange how progress appears so variable.

One topical area is handling winter weather. Poor old Gatwick seems to be the loser time after time, and again this week is closed for two days or more. Yet even Heathrow seems to be OK, not to mention Amsterdam or Oslo. There has to be a balance between investment and frequency of problem, so of course Oslo has all the best technology for runway clearance and everything else. I’m not suggesting Gatwick copies Oslo completely, but my guess is there is a middle path which short sighted cost considerations are blocking there. As usual, the holistic picture is probably lost amid departmental budgets and targets.

We like to have a good moan, and of course it is no fun at all being delayed for hours, but on balance some places achieve great things. Airports such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen have always impressed me in how they keep things flowing, even in adverse conditions. Last winter I got caught, and ended up sleeping overnight in Heathrow, having deliberately chosen the very first plane out the next morning, judging that it had the best chance. At 5.30am things started coming together. I was impressed at many small heroes who made things possible – for example the gate staff who had walked to work in the snow. In the end, just as we were about to taxi off, the snow came back and it was all in vain, and I had to resort to the Eurostar train. But it reminded me just how many people are involved in these operations.

De-icing may be one opportunity area, as technology and practices seem to have barely developed over the last twenty years. There always seems to be a long queue for a de-icer, and that queue leads to slots being missed, as the de-icers don’t seem well integrated with the rest of the airport.

But remember fifteen years ago, when we had to wait in the sky circling airports all the time, and when take off slots seemed to be routinely delayed by an hour? The integration of European air traffic control has surely paid dividends. That is just one small example of where taking a European or even global approach benefits everyone, yet many national politicians seem to find this anathema, and no one seems keen on trumpeting the benefits. And remember that traffic has probably increased 50% in the interim. The old procedures and the new traffic would likely have led to gridlock by now, not to mention more plane crashes.

Still, it is more fun to have a moan, and the security people must be top of the list of targets. Since 9/11, I have witnessed many ridiculous things in the name of security. For months, it seemed to be OK to carry liquids on planes into the UK, but deadly dangerous to carry them out. Not enough holistic thinking there within an airport, and between countries.

Security people seem to have carte blanche, but then their solutions don’t seem smart. When I lived in Northern Ireland during the troubles in the 1980’s, it was always funny to me how tough the security seemed at the airport, yet if you went on the Larne-Stranraer ferry they didn’t even check your ticket, let alone your bag! And even the airport security seemed mainly for show. I worked out that if I had been in certain places the day before I would always be pulled in, yet if I hadn’t I was never pulled in. If even I could do that, imagine what true terrorists could work out.

If you see some differences between countries in airports, in roads it is even more marked. I love the traffic management in The Netherlands. Firstly, bicycles, public transport and even pedestrians have been given priority for years, which has led to adequately funded and fair priced trains and trams, and road designs where bikes are safe. If you are driving, you do encounter queues during peak hours, but not as many as in the UK. In such a densely populous country, and with some many natural barriers in the form of canals, that is no mean feat.

Apart from smart, holistic goals and brilliant long term planning, another key is the use of technology. In Holland, the majority of traffic lights have sensors, so that their phasing can be influenced by traffic needs. Generally, what happens is that a light stays green as long as a steady flow of traffic is approaching it. The result is that the overall sequence takes longer to play through, but queues tend to clear during each phase. Outside peak hours, the sequence goes through quicker, so at a quiet time you often find a light turning green as you approach it. During the night, many lights are automatically switched off.

This technology is available, and is much less expensive than the alternative cost of disruption. So why is it almost unheard of in the UK? The same old reasons I fear. It was not invented in the UK and the Brits don’t learn well. One department has a budget and so integrated thinking is missing. And the road lobby (and its votes) seem to me to be particularly short sighted and powerful in the UK. They block smart innovation like road pricing, and somehow even manage to hold back speed cameras, which all logic and data support overwhelmingly. Jeremy Clarkson has plenty to answer for, I fear.

But then it works the other way too. It seems to me the UK is much better at major road improvements, since they are more ready than Holland to work at night. On this one, it seems the holistic picture is better managed in England. And why is it that in Holland they still don’t have the yellow box junctions, in which you shouldn’t enter until you can see your way to exit? They are, simple, effective, and almost free. Yet absent from Dutch roads.

At least driving in Western Europe is relatively safe these days, and most countries have managed to change the drink driving culture. Experiences in India, Russia and elsewhere remind us that in Europe we have some blessings to count. Let us do that as we try to navigate our way through this cold snap.