The “crisis point” has been reached, says the union

A bus drivers’ union organizer says violence in Auckland’s public transport system has reached a “critical point” as shields are made mandatory for drivers on the city’s new buses.

Auckland Transport (AT) says there has been a “huge increase” in recent weeks despite incidents “trend[ing]downwards” over the past year.

Security has been beefed up at public transport stations amid a series of attacks on young people on buses and at intersections in New Lynn, Henderson and Albany. There have also been an increasing number of reports of assaults on drivers in recent years.

First Union organizer Hayley Courtney told Breakfast a “crisis point” had been reached for passengers and drivers.

“Our bus drivers live in fear. Every day they wake up in the morning or before their shift, worried that they will never see their families again after they have finished their driving duties,” he said.

“We want security to be stepped up, not just temporarily, but all the time at these hotspots. They’re also talking about implementing screens on buses for drivers to separate them from passengers; that test has been underway for more than a year. anus. “

“Shields” or “screens,” common on buses in other cities abroad, create a physical barrier between the bus driver and passengers.

“We would really like to see that implemented,” Courtney said.

He added: “We’d really like to see (Auckland Transport) step up and say, ‘Hey, look, we’ve got a really big problem here. We’re at a crisis point now. What can we do to reduce and minimize the problem? these risks for people?'”

Courtney said bus drivers wanted the agency to act more “proactively” in response to data showing areas where there were hotspots of problems.

One teenage victim, who was attacked on a bus in Albany last month, told 1News: “It’s very stressful because we need to ride the bus, but we’re afraid to do it.

“I’m still in shock and can’t believe it happened, at all.”

A group of six youths, one of whom was found with a knife, were arrested over the incident after allegedly assaulting two teenagers.

The victim said she would be taking a break from the bus for a while due to the “traumatic” incident, but has to rely on the bus as her primary means of transportation.

Driver shields mandatory for new buses, says AT

Responding to attacks on young people. AT public transport director Stacey van der Putten told Breakfast there are often many factors behind these incidents.

“What we’re seeing is a really complex social problem, especially among young people,” he said.

“I understand that as a mother of two teenagers, it’s really concerning that we’re seeing this and this increase.

“I really want to have better community engagement, bring in community leaders and look for localized solutions that we can use, particularly at times like school holidays in hot spots.”

Van der Putten said the agency had been encouraging people to report incidents through Crime Stoppers, but there was a “limited workforce we can deploy” for security.

“With that in mind, we need to be able to prioritize where we use those resources, making sure we make the most of information and are guided by intelligence, so we can proactively deploy people to understand what’s happening.”

Additionally, van der Putten said funding was a major constraint on modernizing bus driver shields more quickly, but they would be mandatory for new vehicles.

“Until we overcome the challenges we have with funding, to be able to accelerate them, we are limited and that is the reality,” he said.

Last year, several buses trialled the installation of plastic safety screens.

“We have another 22 buses that are going to be modernized in the south and another 11 in the central region.”

He said the modernized displays needed to be tested to “get feedback from drivers” and mitigate issues such as windshield glare and driver comfort.