Drivers 'stressed, frightened' after machete wielded on Bay bus

A man was removed from a bus on Fraser St after carrying a machete on-board. Photo / John Borren / Sun Media

A union representative is calling for security guards' hours to be extended at bus stops in central Tauranga and Mount Maunganui after a passenger was caught carrying a machete onto a bus.

First Union organiser Graham McKean told Local Democracy Reporting that security guards should be at the Tauranga interchange and Farm St stop in Mount Maunganui until all buses finish running.

First Union represents about 40 per cent of the bus drivers in Tauranga.

Security guards are stationed at the Tauranga interchange from 8am to 8pm and at Farm St from noon to 8pm in response to antisocial behaviour at the stops.

Last week police arrested a man after he boarded a bus from the Tauranga CBD with a machete.

Initially thought to be a firearm, police later confirmed it was a knife.

They said the offender was being dealt with by way of alternate resolution.

McKean said he had not had direct contact with the driver of that bus, but drivers were all on edge.

"Drivers are not in a particularly good emotional space at the moment," he said.

"We have had rolling issues around bullying, harassment, damage to the buses, violent altercations, threats, and abuse both unarmed and armed.

"We've seen Tasers, knives and machetes now coming into the local bus industry and it's just entirely unacceptable."

Earlier in July, a bus driver in Rotorua had a knife held to their throat as the masked offender stole a cashbox from the bus.

"That driver was nervous, emotionally upset, was absolutely frightened and was really quite scared witless about what this hooded, masked person was going to do when the knife was held to his throat," said McKean.

First Union organiser Graham McKean. Photo / John Borren / Sun Media

He said the vast majority of divers are over 65 and there is a large section of female drivers as well.

"They are really quite frightened and concerned around what could happen.

"Some of the constant questions I get when I have meetings and catch-ups is,
'Are we just waiting for somebody to get stabbed? Are we waiting for somebody to get maimed? Someone to get killed in their role?'.

"There is an immense underlying fear and stress on the drivers."

Currently, if drivers feel unsafe when approaching a bus stop, they can choose to continue without stopping.

This was something the union supported through a formal letter highlighting the driver's legal right not to stop if they felt threatened, McKean said.

"I do have to look at escalating that since these last recent situations."

The union representative also suggested bus inspectors travel on buses to provide extra security for drivers in areas of "high concern".

"Picking key areas and having a bus inspector travelling will go ways to alleviating those concerns, especially with the older drivers and the female drivers, knowing that someone's there on the bus with them."

McKean said a lot of the issues were caused by youths who would also congregate at stops where security was not present.

NZ Bus manages the buses and drivers in Tauranga under a Bay of Plenty Regional Council contract.

NZ Bus chief operating officer Jay Zmijewski said the company would not object to extending the hours of security guards.

"However, regional council will need to consider their resourcing and whether there is justification for such an extension," he said.

When asked his thoughts on bus inspectors, Zmijewski replied: "NZ Bus' view is that the current security arrangements are more appropriate as bus inspectors are not as well-trained or equipped to deal with incidents of criminal or anti-social behaviour".

NZ Bus would not support drivers extending their bus stop boycott, he said.

"Law-abiding passengers may be left stranded without the means to travel home, which raises other safety concerns for those in the community," he said.

"All stakeholders have been working co-operatively in order to identify solutions."

McKean agreed the stakeholders were being "positive and proactive".

Bay of Plenty Regional Council said there had been a reduction in anti-social behaviour since the relocation of the Tauranga CBD bus terminal to Durham St. Photo / John Borren / Sun Media

In relation to the machete incident, Zmijewski said: "The driver was unaware that there was a passenger on board the bus with a knife, until pulling into the bus stop where the police boarded the bus and removed the passenger.

"The driver was spoken to by management and reported being fine following the incident."

The Tauranga interchange moved from Willow St to Durham St in mid-June which the regional council and NZ Bus said had decreased anti-social behaviour.

Zmijewski said: "We have received feedback from our drivers that there is a decrease in instances of anti-social behaviour in the Tauranga CBD."

Regional council interim transport operations manager Chris Brewer agreed there had been a "substantial decrease" in anti-social behaviour since the CBD bus stop moved.

Regional council did not support the extension of security guards hours at the stops though.

"We have not received reports of incidents occurring outside the security hours to warrant additional security presence at this time," Brewer said.

The regional council also restricted the free fares for school-aged children to between 7am and 9am and 3pm to 5pm in June. Previously anyone under 18 was able to travel on the buses for free at any time.

Zmijewski said the reintroduction of fares for minors along with the bus stop relocation appeared to be having a positive impact.

"It is still early days and all stakeholders will need to continue to monitor the situation and review the effectiveness of the current security arrangements."