Dutch motorway controllers fear delays from new incident software

Road traffic controllers at the Dutch highways agency Rijkswaterstaat fear that a new way of recording motorway incidents could slow the response to crashes. Their concerns come as its Helmond control centre is reportedly preparing to make the Dynac procedure mandatory. Rijkswaterstaat acknowledges that staff have raised concerns, but disputes that emergency services will arrive later.

According to the Algemeen Dagblad, as reported by Dutch news agency ANP, controllers are satisfied with Dynac’s camera and roadside-sign functions but say it is unsuitable for documenting incidents. A local Nieuws.nl account of the newspaper’s reporting says colleagues cannot see incident information until a report has been fully entered. Controllers fear that could delay the work of road inspectors and other measures taken during an incident. The reported problem is a risk raised by staff, not a measured increase in response times.

Rijkswaterstaat told ANP it expects improvements to the system and greater familiarity with the procedure to resolve most problems. Its spokesperson said the software and network had been improved and most faults resolved. According to the local account, the agency also pointed out that police, fire and ambulance crews are primarily dispatched through the usual emergency control rooms; any potential difference in arrival times would chiefly concern its own inspectors and recovery services.

Dynac is part of Rijkswaterstaat’s phased programme to replace ageing traffic-control systems. An official ICT review warned in April 2023 that the programme had not then secured the continuity of road traffic management technology, while also noting that controllers liked its camera functions. The minister at the time subsequently accepted the review’s recommendations and outlined changes to oversight, maintenance and fallback planning. Those steps addressed the wider programme, not the outcome of the incident-reporting procedure now at issue.

The Helmond switch to the new procedure was planned for late October, according to the local report. Infrastructure minister Vincent Karremans has said the new system must, over time, operate at least as safely as the existing one, and that he is monitoring its introduction. Whether the procedure affects the speed of incident handling remains unresolved.