Bus driver shortage: 100 employment offers accepted by overseas candidates

Commuters waiting at a bus stop on Lambton Quay, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Up to 100 people from overseas have accepted offers to drive buses in New Zealand, the country’s largest urban bus operator says.

The country’s biggest cities are struggling to manage a national bus driver shortage, which is leaving commuters frustrated and late for work.

Auckland’s public transport system is crippled with no-show buses, three years of looming rail shutdowns, and crew shortages on ferries.

Most Wellington City and Porirua buses have been reduced to running on a Saturday timetable this month, a 20 per cent reduction in services on top of the more than 200 services already temporarily suspended.

One motorist driving through Newtown this morning reported seeing a crowd of about 120 people waiting at a bus stop on Riddiford St.

“Many [were] looking fairly frustrated. The only buses I passed that were heading in that direction looked totally full already.”

As of December, the region was 125 drivers short, but a recent change to immigration settings has provided a glimmer of hope.

Immigration Minister Michael Wood has announced bus and truck drivers will now be able to access a time-limited, two-year residence pathway.

NZ Bus operates a fleet of about 780 buses and has long-term contracts in Auckland, Wellington, and the Bay of Plenty.

When asked about the driver shortage in Wellington, NZ Bus chief operating officer Stephen McKeefry said an overseas recruitment campaign has resulted in 100 suitable candidates accepting offers of employment.

Eight new drivers have arrived in the country this week, with approved visas, and will undergo training and the necessary licence requirements.

Most of Wellington's buses are running on a Saturday timetable. Photo / Mark Mitchell

McKeefry said they should be on the road within two months if there is no delay with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s licence processing.

A further 29 overseas driver candidates are awaiting visa approval and if successful, will arrive in Wellington in coming weeks to start their induction, McKeefry said.

He said NZ Bus hoped to have two cohorts of overseas drivers in training every month for the next three months.

The company was increasing domestic recruitment in the Wellington region too, McKeefry said.

“Recruitment in the region is the number one priority to lift overall service reliability for the fare-paying public in the Wellington region and our combined recruitment campaign represents an investment of more than $1.5 million.”

The Government has also announced $61 million to lift driver pay rates.

This is expected to lift driver wages in Wellington to $30 an hour this year after Greater Wellington Regional Council already lifted them to $27 an hour in 2021.

Regional council Transport Committee chairman Thomas Nash said it was great NZ Bus was getting overseas interest and he couldn’t wait to get more drivers on the road and restore services.

“We have a chronic bus driver shortage in New Zealand and we feel it acutely in Wellington because we are the biggest bus users in the country.”

Nash apologised to commuters.

“We don’t want to leave people behind at bus stops, we don’t want to have overloaded buses, it’s not the level of service we want to provide and we are doing everything we can to fix it.”

Wellington buses will move from the Saturday timetable to their normal - albeit reduced schedule on January 30.

Until then, commuters are in for a rough ride as they return to work.

One Wellington commuter reported the number 23 bus to Houghton Bay was full from Willis St last night and a mum with a toddler and a baby in a pushchair couldn’t get on.

Another commuter has been forced to take a different bus into work on the Saturday timetable, which has led to overcrowding at the Brooklyn shops stop.

On Monday the bus was full with standing room only and hardly anyone could fit on at Brooklyn. Today, no one could.