The AA Prepared Routes Service

Forgotten Vehicles & Transport · 1912–2000s

Published

The AA Prepared Routes Service was the Automobile Association’s evolving British journey-planning operation. Introduced with handwritten paper route cards around 1912, it later appeared under names including the Home Routes Service and members’ routes service. Its journey-specific packs could contain written directions, strip maps and town plans, with formats varying by period and route. Home Routes production was computerised internally in 1984, but AA staff still calculated the journeys. Public self-service calculation arrived with the online AA Route Planner in October 1999, and the Bristol postal-processing operation closed shortly afterwards.

Why It Mattered

Its significance lay in turning specialist road knowledge into portable instructions for individual motorists, bridging the gap between general road atlases and web or satellite navigation. The transition from handwritten cards to staff-generated computer itineraries and finally online calculation also shifted control of route planning from specialist compilers to the traveller.

How the Paper Routes Worked

- Before computerisation, a route compiler selected the recommended journey, gathered the necessary stock route sheets and arranged them in travelling order. - Depending on the period and journey, packs could include written directions, distances or cumulative mileages, strip maps and fold-out town plans. - The documents were prepared before travel and followed using roads, junctions, towns, signs, landmarks and mileage; they were not live telephone navigation.

Jane Dallaway’s Surviving AA Route Plan

- Jane Dallaway’s firsthand examination and photographs document family-retained route packs containing request paperwork, printed directions, maps and a fold-out York plan. - A photographed 1960s request form made the quickest route the default while offering scenic, caravan-suitable and touring requests. - The surviving Hull–York sheet combines written directions with a vertical map for a 37½-mile route and is marked “The Automobile Association 1962”.

From Staff Compilation to Self-Service

- Home Routes became fully computerised in 1984, using an internal database to generate written itineraries on compact fanfold stationery. - Overseas Routes was computerised in 1987, and the Home and Overseas operations were merged into one Bristol unit in 1990. - The public AA Route Planner launched in October 1999; the Bristol postal-processing operation closed shortly afterwards.

Associated With

The Automobile Association - creator and operator

Defining Feature

Journey-specific directions, strip maps and town plans prepared for AA members

Status

Superseded - individually compiled postal routes replaced by online self-service planning

Primary Records

- **AA History Timeline — Routes, Computerisation and Online Planning** - **The Experience of Developing and Providing Driver Route Information Systems** - **The AA Celebrates 120 Years of Motoring Assistance** - **AA Route Planner**

Image Sources

- **Image 1** - **Image 2** - **Image 3** - **Image 4** - **Image 5**

Rights Notice

Images are included for historical and archival reference. Rights holders may contact Forgotten Archive through the publishing account to request a credit correction or removal.

Gallery

A fan of worn yellow and brown stapled route booklets laid on dark blue textured fabric. Visible cover text includes “Your Route,” “Recommended,” “Alternative,” “Lochgair – Oban,” and “Hull – Oban,” with line drawings of buildings and cars; an AA emblem appears on the front booklet.
Source
Credit

Jane Dallaway

Licence

Permission

Permission was granted for reproduction by Forgotten Archive. This does not grant permission for third-party reuse.

Caption

AA route booklets turned a planned car journey into a portable set of instructions, personalised before digital navigation.

An unused AA “Application for Your Next Route” form lies over a yellow route document on dark blue fabric. It includes blank fields for member details, journey dates, destinations, tour mileage and requested stops, with part of a printed route map visible beneath.
Source
Credit

Jane Dallaway

Licence

Permission

Permission was granted for reproduction by Forgotten Archive. This does not grant permission for third-party reuse.

Caption

The application form shows how motorists requested an AA route before a journey could be calculated instantly on a screen.

An open, yellowed AA route document lies on dark blue fabric. Beneath the heading “Here is your route,” it explains through-route maps, prepared routes, future applications, touring information and new-road updates, followed by a list of roads opened in 1981.
Source
Credit

Jane Dallaway

Licence

Permission

Permission was granted for reproduction by Forgotten Archive. This does not grant permission for third-party reuse.

Caption

“Here is your route” introduces the AA’s printed directions and road updates, showing the guidance that accompanied the booklets.

Open cream paper route sheet on dark blue textured fabric, with turn-by-turn directions and a vertical road map for the 37½-mile route from Hull through Beverley and Market Weighton to York; “The Automobile Association 1962” is printed along the bottom.
Source
Credit

Jane Dallaway

Licence

Permission

Permission was granted for reproduction by Forgotten Archive. This does not grant permission for third-party reuse.

Caption

The Hull-to-York route combines written turns with small maps, allowing a motorist to follow the journey page by page.

Cream printed map page titled “YORK,” showing the city’s streets and numbered roads, with an “AA Office” marker and a column of York locations and numbers at right. The page is photographed at a slight angle on a dark blue surface.
Source
Credit

Jane Dallaway

Licence

Permission

Permission was granted for reproduction by Forgotten Archive. This does not grant permission for third-party reuse.

Caption

The York street map supplements the longer route with the detail needed to navigate the destination itself.