Kristin Macfarlane: Safety on Bay of Plenty Regional Council buses - more can be done

Our bus drivers, school children, elderly, women and ever passenger on our buses deserve to feel safe. Photo / George Novak

OPINION:

There will always be people who think the law does not apply to them and feel entitled to take what they want, however they want, from innocent victims.

They couldn't care less about how they make people feel or the consequences their actions will have on others.

They're the types of people society could happily live without - but unfortunately, we are yet to find a way to get rid of this toxic behaviour from our communities and, in recent weeks, bus drivers have been the target.

First Union organiser Graham McKean says bus drivers have been abused, punched and kicked, and have been robbed of cash boxes and personal items, prompting them to leave their jobs out of fear for their own safety.

He says another "predator" has approached women drivers, inappropriately touched them and spoken to them inappropriately, while a schoolgirl has also been allegedly sexually assaulted in the back of a bus

These are all disgusting incidents that should never be allowed to happen.

McKean has recommended to service operator Bay of Plenty Regional Council to remove cash boxes from buses and that security guards do rounds of bus shelters.

These are positive first steps but I think there needs to be multiple measures implemented - and the community has a part to play.

Safety cameras installed in every bus can only be a positive move, acting as another deterrent and an added safety measure for staff and passengers.

But ultimately, I think the community needs to step up and show these people that this behaviour will not be tolerated to ensure our bus drivers, our school children, our elderly, our women and every other passenger can feel safe while using a bus service anywhere in the Bay of Plenty and beyond.

How many times a day do we see an empty bus travelling their route? The lack of patronage on a bus has to be one of the reasons these people feel like they can get away with their disgusting behaviour.

If we had full buses, in turn ensuring dozens of potential witnesses, that would surely deter offenders from targeting bus drivers. That potentially means coming together to show these people that their actions will not be tolerated, simply by utilising public buses more frequently.

If everyone who is able to catch a bus to school, to work or to wherever their destination, commits to using a bus a couple of times a week we will surely see more packed buses.

Perhaps we need to reduce the number of buses we have operating to ensure more people catching the same buses, just until using buses becomes a habit for more people?

People who think they have the right to take what they want from who they want need to learn there is no place for them in our community, and our community needs to help to educate them of that.