'You're looking a bit yummy girl': Woman's shock at bus driver's comments

The unwanted comments were made by a driver on a Ritchies bus, the woman said. File photo / Michael Craig

A woman who was told by a bus driver that she looked "sexy" and "yummy" is stunned the man hasn't been taken off the route, after she told bus company Ritchies she no longer felt comfortable riding her regular bus.

The woman, who asked not to be named, now pays $34 a day to travel return from Warkworth to Auckland on the private Mahu Express, instead of $15 a day on a public bus.

"I'm not taking that bus. I don't even want to see a Ritchies bus."

The bus company wouldn't comment, but the woman shared email exchanges between herself and Ritchies staff which showed the driver had been disciplined, but was still driving the same route.

In the email exchange the woman told Ritchies the alleged sexual harassment began on a February 7 journey from the North Shore suburb of Silverdale to Auckland.

After making a phone call to the company, the woman emailed a North Shore operations' team leader to share her story, which began when the bus driver saw a photo on her work access card and said she looked "even better in person".

She thanked him and sat down, but when she got off the bus the man asked her name and told her he thought she was "very sexy, and seemed like a cool lady and that we should meet for a coffee".

"I was surprised at the advances he had made. Confused, I replied with, 'that sounds nice', and then got off the bus and literally ran all the way to my car", she wrote in her complaint.

Later, she boarded the bus at Warkworth in the morning and the same bus driver said to her: "You're looking a bit yummy, girl".

"Shocked by this comment, I responded with 'thank you' and took a seat. When we arrived at Hibiscus Coast Station, I stood to leave and manoeuvred myself between the two gentlemen in the hope this would deflect any further inappropriate comments.

"However when I reached [the bus driver], he handed me this note with his name and phone number on it, and asked me to text him so we could chat some more," the woman wrote.

The woman told the Herald this morning she was "shocked and surprised" by the man's actions.

"I'm not even 50 and you're in your 60s, and I'm clearly married."

When asked why she did not challenge the man in person she said that "everybody responds to situations differently".

"Your parents raise you to be polite."

Following her complaint, the Ritchies team leader wrote back to say the North Shore depot manager had counselled the driver and that "the driver has been dealt through our in house procedure by the depot manager".

The driver was still doing the same runs, he wrote.

"We do apologise for any inconvenience caused."

However, the woman wrote to the depot manager to say that "apologising for any inconvenience caused is almost brushing these incidents off ridiculously lightly".

She said this morning that she wanted those who responded to imagine how they would feel if the same thing had happened to someone they knew.

"If this was your daughter, your sister or your wife, would you be happy with them being treated like this?"

The manager replied to say again at the driver had been counselled and disciplined, but that "unfortunately due to employment privacy I am unable to disclose specific details of action taken."

A person who answered the phone at the North Shore depot this morning referred comment to Ritchies director Andrew Ritchie.

Ritchie declined to comment.

The woman's story is the latest in a series of incidents of unwanted sexual approaches reported by women on various forms of public transport.

This month a 23-year-old flying home on Qatar Airways described being indecently assaulted by a man sitting next to her, who later admitted his actions to police when the plane landed in Auckland.

Several other women also came forward to share their stories of unwanted groping, some incidents dating back decades, on both flights and buses.