Mia Degoumois says roadhouse sales are down $200,000 in six months as inaccurate road status data pushes tourists onto other routes. Transport NSW says safety is its priority.
Road openings after record rainfall in the far west are not being accurately reflected on Live Traffic NSW, small business owners say. The website and app are confusing travellers and cutting off the main source of customers for some remote operators.
Mia Degoumois has owned the Packsaddle Roadhouse for 24 years. She said the inaccuracies were causing "a massive downturn in business" during what should be the peak tourist season. Her visitation figures are down about an eighth this winter. Sales over the past six months are down about $200,000.
"Information doesn't seem to catch up," she said. "I don't really know what the problem is. I can't see why it is a problem, like, why they can't fix it and make it easy. A lot of times it feels like you're so far outback that no-one really cares unless they want to travel [here]."
Major roads in far west NSW, including the Silver City Highway between Broken Hill and Tibooburra, have only just fully reopened for the first time since March. Months of record rainfall hit remote parts of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. Live Traffic NSW has been slow to reflect those updates, business owners said.
The website and app only give two options -- open or closed. Roads open to 4WD vehicles only are listed as "closed". Transport for NSW said roads will only show as being open when they are accessible to all vehicles.
Rebecca Young has owned the Milparinka Hotel for 26 years. This season has been her worst year of trade. The pub sits 125km north of Packsaddle on the Silver City Highway. Traffic is down 80 to 90 percent. She is unsure if she will still be open in six months.
"It's going to be very tough getting through the summer months not having that income during the tourist season," Young said.
Kathy Brown owns the Wanaaring Store and Caravan Park, 230km east of Tibooburra. She said the inaccuracies have led to her fielding hundreds of calls from confused drivers in the past few months. Updates and emails from Transport NSW also differed from the electronic road condition signs, she said. Travellers were changing their plans because they believed certain roads were closed. Google Maps, which uses Live Traffic NSW data, was sending them on longer routes.
"It would be good if those that control Live Traffic NSW would actually check and make sure why the roads are closed or if it isn't," Brown said.
Tony Bond from Yass has been trying to plan a trip to support the struggling businesses. He said the discrepancy between the Live Traffic NSW site and local reports made it hard to plan. He now relies on social media groups and calling roadhouses directly instead.
"Some roads aren't even actually on [Live Traffic NSW] that we know are there for one, and they're saying they are not necessarily open when they are, and vice versa," Bond said. "We will look at those live sites anyway just in case there is something that's missed. We pretty much rely these days on social media; on various groups like the Grey Nomads [Facebook page], various caravanning groups [and] four-wheel drive groups, because they are the people out there doing it, and [with] the roadhouses themselves, we will call ahead."
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said safety was its highest priority. Both sealed and unsealed roads throughout the far west had been damaged by extensive rainfall, with several roads remaining closed. Crews were actively inspecting and repairing the roads, and the department was continually looking for ways to improve the disruption information provided to the public, the spokesperson said.
Grazier Sam Beven is president of the Pastoralists' Association of West Darling. He said Live Traffic NSW was "problematic at best" and Transport NSW could do more to provide accurate information. He noted that roadwork crews often had people sitting in vehicles watching graders and loaders who could instead be driving around checking road conditions.
"These people could maybe be driving around the district checking the roads so we can get a bit more [of an] accurate reading," Beven said.
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