Auckland Transport’s bus stop clanger: Locals annoyed after contractor stuffs up spelling

A freshly painted bus stop in West Auckland is turning heads after contractors for Auckland Transport made an embarrassing spelling clanger.

On Tuesday contractors were sent out to West Auckland’s Te Atatū Peninsula to put in a new bus stop outside the Te Atatū Library.

But locals were left both chuckling and frustrated when they noticed a glaring spelling error.

Instead of the paint on the road saying “bus stop”, the worker wrote “BUS SOTP”.

A bus stop on Te Atatū Rd has been misspelled as "bus sotp".

Many locals have seen the funny side of the blunder.

“Hoping this is photoshopped or else spelling lessons are going to be added to their job description,” one wrote.

Another added: “What in the Temu road markings is this?”

“One job”, a third joked.

A spokesperson from Auckland Transport told the Herald it was aware of the spelling error made by the contractor and would be fixing it as early as tonight, weather permitting.

Some residents have raised concerns about the bus stop’s location.

One person described it as a “dumb place” to put the bus stop while others were fearful the location and space were too narrow for the bus to pull over, concerned that it would cause more traffic congestion on an already congested stretch of Te Atatū Rd.

There were also fears the spelling mistake would cost ratepayers.

However, Auckland Transport’s Infrastructure and Fleet Specification manager, Edward Wright, said remedial work would be paid for by the contracting company and not Auckland Transport. He also addressed concerns about the bus stop’s location.

“AT is aware of a spelling error made by our contractor when they were installing a new bus stop in Te Atatū Peninsula last night as part of our North-West bus improvements.

“The new bus stop pairs up with an existing bus stop across the road, letting us service the town centre from both directions and provide a better connection to the Western Express (WX1).

“This mistake is very minor and will be fixed tonight if the weather allows. It will be repainted at the contractor’s expense, with no cost to AT.”