Re-engineering the Netherlands’ most-used route planner
Who, what & where
Client: ANWB
Industry: Mobility & Tourism
Domain: Digital mobility platforms
Location: The Hague, Netherlands
Goal
The ANWB's national route planner offered travel advice, live traffic information and partner services, attracting 60 million visitors per year. But the platform was starting to show its age: built on Preact and Flow, it had become slow and vulnerable, no longer able to process real-time data from multiple external APIs. The ANWB needed a complete redesign to make the system reliable, scalable and future-proof.
Our role
The ANWB chose Graeme, one of our senior software architects, to lead the refactor. Working within the Traffic and Travel Advice team, he replaced outdated frameworks with a modern stack, improved API integration and laid a foundation that supports both current demand and future growth.
Key activities:
- Migration from Preact and Flow to React and TypeScript, with modification of over 1,200 files
- Development of a central gateway for the integration of 15 external APIs (including traffic, fuel prices, EV charging stations)
- Strengthening the reliability and maintainability of shared APIs in collaboration with ANWB teams
Result & impact
The route planner has been transformed into the reliable backbone of the ANWB's digital mobility services. The platform provides live traffic information, processes real-time data from external partners and integrates seamlessly with travel expense reimbursement systems and national emergency services.
The impact on the organisation is just as significant: where previously one team struggled to maintain the platform, four teams now work together, speeding up iterations and enabling sustainable scaling. During this period, the ANWB website was named Website of the Year, twice.
Today, the route planner infrastructure underpins what travellers hear on the radio, see online and use every day to keep the Netherlands moving.