Road traffic workers say Rijkswaterstaat is forcing them to use slow, unsafe software

Traffic controllers at Rijkswaterstaat are at odds with their leadership over new software used to document incidents on the roads. A spokesperson said, in response to reporting by AD, that “Rijkswaterstaat is aware of the concerns and points of attention raised by the traffic controllers.”

The system is said to threaten safety on Dutch highways because it is “slow, unsafe, and unworkable.” The program causes Rijkswaterstaat employees and emergency responders to arrive more slowly.

Rijkswaterstaat expects most problems to disappear with system improvements and as employees become accustomed to the new way of working. The sharing of concerns and points of attention demonstrates great involvement by the employees. Rijkswaterstaat considers it important that employees continue to share these signals and takes such concerns seriously,” the spokesperson said.

The road authority’s spokesperson disputes most of the criticism in the AD and does not believe emergency services are slower to arrive on scene. The software and network have also been improved, and most outages have been resolved. He also denies that the project’s budget of 169 million euros has been exceeded to 200 million euros; 10 million less has even been spent.

Traffic controllers work satisfactorily with the system that controls the cameras and route-information signs on the highways. But they tell the AD that the system is unsuitable for documenting incidents. The newspaper has internal emails in which those involved voiced strong criticism after a week of trial runs. According to experts, the reason is that the system’s foundation is now 15 years old.

Infrastructure Minister Vincent Karremans believes it will take some time before everyone is used to the new system but stresses that this must not come at the expense of road safety. “The new system must structurally function at least as safely as the current system,” he said through a spokesperson. He added that he is closely monitoring the rollout and wants to see adjustments made if necessary.