By Danielle Kutchel
A small gesture has resulted in a big win for traffic controller Rachel Budrys.
The Cranbourne East resident was announced as the winner of the Victorian division of the Traffic Controller of the Year Award on Wednesday 2 December.
The prestigious industry award was presented by peak body the Traffic Management Association of Australia (TMAA), from a field of seven state finalists.
Ms Budrys has worked as a traffic controller for two years, stopping and slowing traffic on projects like the North East Link, but it was her actions while working as a traffic controller at the drive-through Covid-19 testing site in Malvern East that set her apart from the other award finalists.
“It was about a 27 or 28-degree day,” Ms Budrys recalled.
“I noticed this elderly gentleman walking up the driveway. Once he approached us, he wanted to get a test and seemed quite exhausted, hot and dehydrated.”
The site’s regulations state that only people in cars can be tested – so Ms Budrys decided to order the man an Uber from her own personal account, so he could get his test done.
Once the man had been tested, she asked the Uber driver to drop him at his front door instead of making him walk home again.
Department of Health and Human Services staff at the site were impressed, but Ms Budrys said it was just the right thing to do.
“I feel like anyone would do it,” she said.
Traffic Diversions Group (TDG) Operation Manager, Zeen Booth, nominated her for the Traffic Controller of the Year award and said she was a very worthy winner.
“Rachel was nominated for the award because she exemplified the best traits of a traffic controller while working for TDG and she has consistently gone far above and beyond in the performance of her duties,” he said.
She now advances as a finalist for the National Traffic Controller of the Year Award, which will be announced at the TMAA’s national conference in Melbourne in June 2021.
Whether she wins the national award or not, Ms Budrys said the Victorian award would stand her in good stead as the moves forward in her career.
“I can start to be a leader and show people that doing little acts of kindness can get you further. I want to be a role model to everyone else,” she said.
