"It's definitely disruptive for me and for the other nurses because they've got families, they've got partners waiting for them at home."
Metlink has temporarily cancelled 67 trips on the network in a bid to give commuters certainty and improve reliability. This is on top of an already reduced timetable announced last year.
Wellington resident Erica Finnie also resorted to paying for an Uber after arriving at a bus stop in the CBD at 8pm only to find the next bus home to Wadestown wasn't scheduled until 9.30pm.
She said it was frustrating not being able to rely on the buses, which were important for keeping the city accessible.
One Karori resident even offered a personal shuttle service in his Honda Stepwagon because of the "seemingly never-ending bus cancellations", but the idea fizzled out.
Wellington is currently about 120 bus drivers short.
The Government has announced it's spending $61 million to lift bus driver wages to address the nationwide worker shortage.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said the money - allocated in this year's Budget - would be spent over four years to lift base wage rates towards $30 an hour for urban services and $28 an hour for regional services.
Metlink group manager Samantha Gain told Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills she welcomed the Government's initiative, but she said they had a bigger problem than just wage rates.
"There's a broader issue around working conditions generally for bus drivers, but also opening the borders would help as well. We need a lot more people to come into the industry."
Gain said Wellington City was affected by cancellations more than the rest of the region's network.
Ensuring the same services were not being affected all the time was a "work in progress", she said.
"It is a really difficult situation for the people on the routes that are the most affected and there are some routes which are more affected and we're working with the operators to spread that as much as we can."
Jeremy Barnes lives in Johnsonville and felt cancellations had gotten worse over recent weeks.
He has been working from home more because he "can't be bothered risking the cancellations" or has shown up at work late.
Sometimes he has left work earlier to ensure he can actually get a bus home.
"It's destabilising, it means you can't really plan your day and get through all your tasks."
Jamie Clumpas is a Victoria University student living in Mt Victoria and while he can walk to the campus, sometimes he doesn't have time.
He has opted to take a shared e-scooter, but said that cost up to $10.
"I know that's not a lot for some, but when you're on a student budget, you can't pay that much for transport."
