A single ticket that can be used on Auckland buses, trains and ferries, and in the long run, around NZ, is a step closer, after NZTA funding approval today.

Taxi drivers are being trained as security guards to cut response times to burglar alarms at suburban homes and commercial properties.

The unions will recommend that bus drivers and cleaners accept a pay-rise offer when they meet next Wednesday.

Bus drivers are probably underpaid but the time is not right to bring them into line with workers in similar occupations, ERA says.

It's been a tough week for Auckland's public transport and commuters. Both sides talk to the Herald about the impact of the dispute.

Some NZ Bus drivers who were off work for a week during the lock out turned to WINZ for assistance.

Auckland's main bus fleet is due back on the roads, but a week-long lockout of drivers has left community leaders seething over damage to the credibility of public transport.

NZ Bus and the drivers' unions will continue industrial talks tomorrow, but bus services will resume after seven days of disruptions.

An ERA facilitator is set to make a judgement in NZ Bus's industrial dispute with its drivers tomorrow morning.

An ultimatum to NZ Bus from the ARC may have worsened the dispute with its drivers, NZ Bus's general manager says.

The Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee delivers an ultimatum to the bus company at the centre of the industrial dispute - either fix it up or lose your contract.

Locked-out bus workers are offering to drive Auckland children to school for free when the new term starts on Monday.

A Nelson cabbie has been denied compensation after being stood down for refusing to wear a uniform that reminded him of a childhood spent under Nazi occupation.