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Dangerous driving, assaults on motorists and ordering children off a schoolbus are among complaints laid against bus drivers - yet a recent report found buses were the safest way to travel in New Zealand.
More than half of complaints about bus drivers were laid about unsafe driving or speeding, according to Land Transport New Zealand figures, and drivers who were sacked for rude behaviour towards passengers.
But complaints about speeding or dangerous driving were dealt with by warnings or "advice" from LTNZ. Complaints made directly to bus companies about poor service were kept secret from the public.
That could change under new legislation, tabled in Parliament last month. It is designed to give local councils more power over commercial bus operators to make them meet quality and performance criteria - and make public transport safer.
Accident statistics show what many bus passengers suspect: buses are involved in hundreds of crashes every year and the numbers are rising.
Auckland was ahead of other regions, accounting for 71 of 169 crashes last year that caused injury or death, and 164 of 455 non-injury crashes. Last year, the city topped the list in terms of sheer numbers of crashes - 624, up from 574 in 2005, and 567 the year before.
Last year, seven people died and 241 were injured in crashes involving buses, according to the Ministry of Transport.
High profile cases this year include the death of Rongfa Jiang, 53, struck by a bus on Dominion Rd in April, and a Tokoroa crash in which a bus carrying 15 Korean tourists rolled. Three of the passengers had arms amputated.
In April, a tour bus plunged down a bank near Franz Josef Glacier injuring two passengers.
However, complaints made directly to LTNZ were surprisingly low. The agency has received 13 in Wellington in the last three years, and 42 in Auckland in the last five years.
The Public Transport Management Bill was tabled in Parliament last month to create better public transport services, says Transport Minister Annette King.
"The changes will enable regional councils to require operators to meet quality and performance standards for commercial public transport services," she said.
Operators could also be required to integrate services, fares and ticketing.
Passengers want buses to be more reliable and frequent, but the new legislation is unlikely to result in either, said Craig Worth of the Bus and Coach Association.
Only ongoing investment in public infrastructure and private enterprise would improve services, Worth said, but he was confident that extensive monitoring and complaints processes kept bus operators honest.
Land Transport NZ is also developing a safety rating system to rank each operator, which would include random audits, operator and driver offences and bus maintenance.
LTNZ spokesman Andy Knackstedt said bus companies are required to keep a complaints register - of poor service or punctuality - which is audited as part of performance reviews. But that register is not open to public scrutiny.
Complaints about driver or bus operator behaviour and vehicle condition are investigated by LTNZ.
However, a recent report prepared for the Bus and Coach Association shows that buses are the safest way to travel in New Zealand.
Data over the past 10 years reveals buses were involved in 138 accidents each year on average, but judged by police to be at fault only 40 per cent of the time.
There were 262 bus accidents involving pedestrians in the same period - about 20 per cent of all bus crashes - but the driver was judged at fault in only one in three cases.
