Tauranga bus drivers are boycotting key bus stops because of violent behaviour. Photo / NZME
Tauranga bus drivers will no longer stop at three of the city's main bus stops if they see youths gathered after a girl was arrested for carrying a knife in the CBD.
The boycott comes as bus drivers fear for their safety amid incidents of violence and aggression from young people at bus stops, most notably the Willow St interchange.
A police spokesperson confirmed officers were called to deal with a youth on Wednesday who was found to be in possession of an offensive weapon on Willow St. No injuries were reported and the youth was referred to Youth Aid.
The spokesperson said there had been additional patrols in the Willow St area during the past two weeks "in a prevention and reassurance capacity".
First Union organiser Graham McKean said despite this, the knife incident was an escalation in what was already a volatile environment presenting a "danger to drivers and passengers".
Earlier this week, the Bay of Plenty Times revealed a young man was arrested on Sunday for possession of a homemade taser. This followed the vandalism of the Willow St public toilets and a brawl on Saturday.
It also followed a spate of aggressive and threatening behaviour often targeting bus drivers, including death threats and racial abuse.
A mother claimed her daughter was assaulted and robbed by a group of four to five teenagers who tried to set her hair on fire.
The boycott will take effect from 4pm today and involve the bus stops at Willow St, Bayfair and at 217 Maunganui Rd if there was a congregation of the known youths in the area. McKean said drivers will also refuse to pick up and transport any of these known youths.
McKean acknowledged there was a "heightened presence of police" in the Willow St area but said: "we have to take action"
"It's gotten to the point where we are now dealing with significant weapons - a taser, a knife - in a problematic area," he said.
"We've worked hard with stakeholder groups to try to resolve it and there's a lot of good work being done but it's not working fast enough. We have to better protect the drivers and the travel passengers."
Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder said the bus drivers had his sympathy but the boycott presented "a major logistical problem".
The Willow St and Bayfair (Farm St) bus stops were connection points for passengers hopping off a particular route to hop on to another.
"It comes down to security. We've got to fix this and fix this fast. These conversations and this action do not make that easy but hopefully, we will deliver in a timely manner."
Leeder met with police and NZ Bus representatives this week to work towards a solution.
An action plan has been drawn up, which includes a heavier police presence at the bus stop.
Security would continue to patrol the area but staff had been instructed to observe, record and report only, at the request of police.
In a previous article, Leeder said security needed more teeth in helping to tackle the issue which itself was not in the best interest of bus patronage, the community, and community safety and wellbeing.
NZ Bus chief operating officer Jay Zmijewski said its drivers had always had the company's support not to pick up any passenger posing a risk to their or their passengers' health or safety.
"However, we are not supportive of any blanket boycott that impacts law-abiding passengers in the community," he said.
"There is the potential for law-abiding customers waiting at these bus stops to be impacted by this boycott if the youths are also present.
"NZ Bus regrets any inconvenience caused and will assist the authorities in any way we can to resolve this matter as soon as possible."
Zmijewski said NZ Bus was actively working with the regional council, police and schools to resolve the situation. This included using bus CCTV, reporting all incidents and providing additional training to drivers for de-escalation and incident management of anti-social behaviour.
Public transport advocate and Wednesday Challenge project director Heidi Hughes said she "absolutely" stood by the bus drivers. This was despite concerns fewer people may catch the bus while the issue was ongoing.
"Safety comes first and they have every right to feel safe. We shouldn't feel sad about it, we should act on it," Hughes said.
The former city councillor said social issues and bad behaviour appeared to have escalated since the Covid-19 pandemic. This resulted in many public spaces such as the CBD becoming void of energy because of a lack of people and movement - creating a space for anti-social behaviour to thrive.
"I think what we need to be doing is looking at bus stops in these key locations as places where we should be encouraging community hubs, making them well lit, informative about the community. Bus stops that are more artistically fun - bus stops helped to be built from community ideas," Hughes said.
Such efforts would help towards building a connection between the wider community and its facilities such as bus stops, she said.
Hughes said the issue was complex and much deeper than public transport.
"We need to figure out what we can do in all areas to ensure people feel safe.
"These are all big conversations we need to have."
In January 2021, the regional council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency contracted a security firm to thwart violence and other bad behaviour on Willow St.
The move was renewed in June after feedback people felt safer. The bill for security at Willow St plus Farm St and Chadwick St bus stops was expected to reach $1m for the year. The security firm tasked with the patrol was also changed.
People aged 60-plus accounted for 55% of all house fire deaths over the past 5 years.