it is worthwhile attempting to learn a bit more about how the internet actually works.
When it comes to sending information across the wilds of the internet, it is split up into packets by routers and goes from router to router by what is deemed the best available route. This is informed by the feedback on previous packets, so if what was previously deemed to be a best available route is running slow, another route could be upgraded.
This is not intuitive stuff, most people don't understand it at all, it is how engineers might work, but not how most people like to solve problems. We prefer to make the effort of making a decision and then stick to it, we don't want to constantly revisit all our decisions.
But modern technology can just constantly review decisions, there is not a lot of cost to doing this, while there are situations where a flexibility over decisions is beneficial.
What if the transport network operated like this. What if for major journeys by rail, air or road, we were treated as dumb packets of information, and routed from node to node, each node then directing on the best available route from then on. As with the internet the real benefit of this is that it creates a more robust and flexible network. If one element goes down, then alternatives can quickly be filled to capacity, then further altnernatives filled to capacity.
As with air traffic, you would tag and track each individual at each stage of the journey, for example by presenting or swiping some identification, or through RFID tags, or some sort of GPS or positioning device. In air travel each time you touch down would be a node, in train travel you might need to seek your own nodes, receiving mobile phone notification that you should disembark at a station and seek a specific connection, in road travel a combination of satnav and mobile phone technology could perform the function.
This does seem a bit alien treating people as dumb packets, not entitled to make any decisions, but their fate informing the routing of subsequent travellers. It also suggests a network that is more like the internet with a lot of smaller routes, rather than a few great big motorways, but as recent weather problems have shown there are benefits to robustness.
It is a bit of a cliche in the technology press that whenever there is a natural disaster modern internet communications prove invaluable and amazing.
We have just lived through two weeks of disruption from snow, ice and prolonged subzero temperatures I cannot say it happened here in modern Scotland.
My main interest was in getting to work using public transport. Though I also had a general interest in the worsening situation. My family was mainly interested in whether the schools were open.
Neither of these things were exactly state secrets nor difficult to ascertain, apparently.
The media was not much use at all, it mainly focussed on a few big stories, such as political arguments, rather obvious points about the weather, or fatuous statements such as you should get contractors to knock off icicles and pedestrians should not walk close to buildings. In this country pavements generally run close to buildings, so I suppose they might have been suggesting that people should walk down the middle of the road, though who knows. I cannot imagine any "contractor" rushing to come out and knock off your icicles for you either.
The local radio station was excellent, they really come into their own at these times. But they cover too large an area to provide highly specific advice, they did seem to be spot on with things like the Forth Road Bridge closing, they were not much use at reporting on train problems, no media even seemed to really attempt to cover the disruptions to the trains.
The media based websites were pretty much as per their reporting, though more out of date.
The specific websites for schools were problematic. They were often totally unavailable because of high traffic. People would just hit the refresh button to get updates. Schools seemed incapable of making decisions, for example deciding at 8.58 to close a school that opened at 9, turning away any children that arrived. The school had also signed us all up to get text updates to our mobile, but the few we did get were too late to be much use and they did not send out messages that they should of. It was certainly not something that you could rely on. My wife was getting constant phone calls from people with no internet, or no mobiles asking what was going on, when she did not know herself, despite having a mobile and internet.
The trains were not operating to timetables, and the website purported to reflect what trains were running, but was often completely wrong, reporting trains were running when they had all been cancelled. The station announcements when you could hear them tended to be accurate, though stuff on the screens was often completely wrong. In fairness to the railway people they were attempting to run a service that was falling apart around them, but their provision of information was dreadful.
Accordingly you could scour the web and find nothing of any real use, just more and more contradictory information.
The most useful information was other people, people on trains phoning people still at the station, direct first hand information that you could trust. The children tended to use Facebook to discuss school closures and this seemed to work well apart from the fact that none of them actually knew very much or had any authority.
The lesson would appear to be that user generated content is key, there needs to be some sort of infrastructure available for users to share content, and authoritative voices should take part in these discussions, or they should ensure that they maintain authoritative sources of advice across a vareity of channels. Mobile texts will not reach everyone, the internet will not reach everyone, etc etc. Decide on a media strategy and commit to it.
Around ten o'clock on Friday 26th November 2010 it started to snow. I did not notice, but a friend who had intended to play golf the following morning did. On Saturday I headed over to Glasgow to visit the Apple Store and regretted not taking my camera as the whole country was covered in snow and looked fantastic.
This was the start of two weeks of snow and sub zero temperatures.
This cold snap has come earlier than usual, but more importantly it included a substantial amount of snow. Where I live there was over two feet of snow. When you get that kind of volume of snow it is not just a case of sweeping it to one side, the sheer volume of the stuff becomes a problem. Some people have cleared their driveways but created impassable mounds of snow on the pavement. Tractors have been used to clear car parks and create mounds of snow several metres high. A roundabout near me has several such mounds.
There have also been sustained periods of subzero temperatures. That means that the snow does not thaw, it just compacts down a bit more. We have had day time temperatures of minus 8, and when snow has thawed from the roof, it has frozen again into icicles or as soon as it hit the ground.
Scotland's infrastructure is not really designed for this sort of sustained weather. There have been icicles a metre long hanging off buildings everywhere, and the weight of ice has taken down countless gutters. Roofloads of snow and ice have slid down suddenly demolishing whatever lies beneath. A friend says a pile came off her tenement roof destroying some teak outdoors furniture. Non main roads have been hidden beneath snow and ice for weeks with no indication of where they were beyond any car tracks that were upon them. Even main roads have struggled to stay at all clear with the motorway between Edinburgh and Glasgow being closed for a number of days. There was sustained heavy snow on the afternoon of Monday 6th December and Lothian Buses suspended all services in Edinburgh for four hours, and then only ran buses till 9 in the evening. The trains have been operating without a timetable for a fortnight, our service being completely cancelled on Friday 3rd, most of Wednesday 8th and all of Thursday 9th. We were even frozen out of the station shelter when the door froze shut. The Forth Road Bridge has been closed a number of times because of the snow and accidents.
At times the shops have run out of food, petrol stations are running out of petrol. The schools were shut for the first week, which was not actually as bad as the second week when they were open.
It has been a nightmare using public transport, I've even had to stay over in a chilly B&B one night as there was no way to get home.
Thankfully the daytime temperatures are now enough for the snow to start thawing and it feels like we are past the worst of it all. A few observations.
Sustained temperatures below zero are extremely exhausting to endure, you burn up a lot of energy very quickly, waiting for public transport is exhausting in cold temperatures. You just want to eat carbohydrates and not fruit!
When snow thaws and instantly freezes it is very dangerous, very heavy, unpredictable and not where you want it to be, such as poised above your head.
When you have over a foot of snow it is a whole different world, clearing your path is virtually impossible and the volumes of snow quickly become unmanageable.
Flat roofs are dangerous. Snow will steadily accumulate and can either collapse your roof, many farm animals have died this way, or suddenly slough off in an avalanche.
You don't want anything to be underneath an avalanche that comes off a roof. It could kill you.
Our trains and carriages were apparently designed for mediterannean climates and cannot cope with sustained periods of snow and ice. They can accumulate tons of ice underneath. Many essential items are on the underside of the train, such as brakes, and with a ton of ice, they can just stop working. Ideally you would want to thaw out the whole train, like you would defrost a fridge, but where or how could you do this to hundreds of trains?
Our train points are not designed for prolonged periods below zero, they freeze. They can put electric blankets over them as a bodge.
The modern super interconnected world does not really deliver useful information in an emergency situation.
On a more positive note, I am not aware of anyone in Scotland dying directly as a result of the recent cold snap, which is actually really surprising and a testament to peoples good sense.
The gas, electricity, phones all continued to work, the post got through sporadically though delivery services gave up for a week.
While some people have been selfish and inconsiderate, for example making sure their drive was snow free while stacking a mountain of snow onto the pavement making it totally impassable, most have been good humoured and helpful once you get speaking to them.
This is my blog. There is no end of random stuff here that I have written over the years. My collection of stories about imaginary cities, called 101 Quiet Cities is now available on Kindle. I'll post new stories here from time to time.
