Inside the AA
A brief history of the AA routes service
The beginning
The very earliest AA Patrols were often called upon to give verbal advice and directions. Paper routes were introduced in 1912, responding to member demand arising from a general lack of signposts to give directions on the country's roads.
These early 'routes' were personalised itineraries to meet individual requirements for directions combined with a limited range of printed town plans and booklets of 'day drives'.
1920
As membership grew (100,000 by 1920) so did the demand for routes. By the early Twenties routes consisted of a set of handwritten cards, each giving details of the route between 2 different points. Information about local places of interest was written on the reverse.
As demand increased typing and duplication of cards was introduced – by the late Twenties, 7,000 different cards/sheets were being printed and more than half a million routes were being compiled every year.
1925
The 'Foreign Routes Service', initially covering France only, was introduced in 1925.
Initially two members of staff were sent abroad to 'log' the main routes from which the first printed routes were built up.
Route sheets were handwritten from maps with additional information being obtained from associated clubs overseas. AA members were also asked to report on journeys they had made.
Gradually the route network expanded, eventually to cover all types of journeys, including overland to India, Africa and even beyond.
1930s
'Strip maps' were first added to route sheets around this time as a further aid to navigation. These were further improved in the Thirties when progressive mileages were added.
Demand for routes peaked at around 600,000 per year, but then declined rapidly during wartime and development ceased.
1950s
By 1948 AA membership returned to the pre-war level of over 700,000 and demand for routes increased rapidly again, particularly when petrol rationing ceased in 1950.
'Places of interest' information was dropped at this time when details of the return route were added to the reverse of the route sheets.
1960s
By 1965, with membership exceeding 3.5 million, annual demand for routes exceeded 1.25 million.
The demand for overseas routes information increased too from about 40,000 in 1949 to a peak of 221,387 requests in 1965.
The expansion of the motorway network reduced the need for strip maps, and so in 1968 we introduced the unique AA 'Throughroute' maps. Based on some 50 different towns, each showed the AA recommended route from that town to over 500 destinations. These helped reduce demand for individually tailored routes.
In 1969 a series of overseas 'Route Books' was introduced, with pre-printed driving directions and basic route maps.
1970s
In 1975 'Throughroute' maps were also introduced for Europe showing major routes from each of the main Channel ports. A charge was made for these for the first time in 1976.
1980s
The Home Routes Service was fully computerised in 1984, followed in 1987 by the Overseas Routes Service.
Thousands of printed route sheets were transferred onto computer, so that routes could be generated automatically without the need for staff to 'pick' and collate each route – a single route would often include many separate sheets.
1990s
In 1990 the Home and Overseas routes services were amalgamated for the first time.
A single routes processing – compiling and posting routes – unit was established in Bristol, and the research team became part of the cartographic department in Basingstoke.
The research team was responsible for gathering data, usually by driving and recording road layouts, signposting and places of interest. A team of some 15 staff were dedicated to this function during the Nineties.
In 1999, 250,000 routes were generated for the members' routes service.
In 1999 the first AA route was calculated from the AA's new website, and for the first time AA routes were available free to members and non-members alike.
This development completely changed the way customers accessed travel information and inevitably the routes processing unit in Bristol closed shortly afterwards.
The research team continued collecting information 'on the ground', to ensure that what the customer saw on the route plan was what they would see on the road. This approach was, and still is, unique to the AA and ensures that AA routes give directions like people give directions - 'turn right at the Red Lion pub signposted Reading'.
2000s
In the first full year online (2000) a total of 4.5 million routes were generated – 18 times the number produced in the final year of postal operations.
Volumes have grown rapidly since routes went online – in 2007 the AA website generated 171 million routes!
Research methods developed quickly as GPS location technology matured – accurate coordinates of road features identified in the field could be transferred immediately to the database.
In 2005 full 'street-level' routeing for Britain was incorporated into the online route planner so that it is now possible to calculate a route to/from any street or postcode.
More detailed mapping was also added at this time – users can now access a detailed map of any part of the route itinerary, and can quickly link to places of interest and places to stay en route.
2010
AA Route Planner celebrates its 1 billionth online route.
For over 10 years AA Route Planner has been providing free online driving directions to motorists, in recent times averaging 16 million route requests per month.
In the last decade AA Route Planner has helped motorists travel approximately 125 billion miles. This astounding distance is the equivalent of driving around the world over five and a half million times, or 700 round trips to the Sun.
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12 July 2010