The " Compensation " issue !

This week, motorists using the M2 to get to work found themselves caught in a fourteen kilometre traffic snarl.   This lasted for hours and as a consequence thousands were late for work and many self employed tradespeople lost significant earnings while they sat idle in their vehicles.

The reason given for this debacle was a " late finish " to scheduled overnight road work.  It seems that unexpectedly low temperatures caused waterproofing of the road surface to take more time and this extended the road work until well after the morning peak had started.

Many angry drivers are calling for the toll of $ 4.95 per car - and double that for trucks - to be refunded as a form of compensation.   The toll company - Transurban-Hills M2 - has refused.

Multiply the toll with the huge amount of traffic in the morning peak - and you arrive at a very large amount of money.   This was paid by people who were exchanging a fee for the promise of getting to their destination faster by buying the right to use a road that delivered that result.   On this occasion - that failed miserably !

This raises the question of " consumer rights " !   When a trader breaks a contract with a customer and fails to deliver the advertised quality, Fair Trading steps in and adjudicates compensation.    Why should this not apply when it comes to a toll refund ?

We will not get the necessary back-ups in the supply chain as long as those causing the loss are able to simply shrug their shoulders - and pocket the rewards - and walk away whistling " Dixie ".   A low overnight temperature was an predictable possibility.   That could have been overcome - had heat lamps been on site as a precaution. 

There is nothing like a looming loss of income to make job planners more cautious in planning work, and without such a threat - we will continue to have consumer failures treated with indifference.

The one sure way to get the trains to run on time - and to get the entire transport system geared to delivering a favourable outcome - is to levy a financial penalty for failure.

Loss of money is a huge incentive to good planning !