Wayne Brown: Auckland Mayor on the increasing risk of violent attacks on public transport

Auckland's Mayor admits there's no way to guarantee the safety of passengers on public transport. 

Figures released exclusively to Newstalk ZB show Auckland Transport is dealing with about 83 incidents a week on trains, and an increasing number of those incidents are violent. 

Emergency services are being called to incidents on buses nine times a week, including stabbings, beatings, and other attacks. 

Wayne Brown told Mike Hosking he's asking Police to hop on buses during their regular patrols, but there can't be cops and security on every bus. 

He says they've set aside money to start caging drivers to protect them, but they can't cage passengers. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Some alarming, if not shocking figures around our public transport
in Auckland, a service with already an appalling reputation of
course in terms of delivery, we now know they are
dealing with more than ninety three incidents a week. In
terms of security issues on the trains, that's in average
of eighty three. We're talking assaults and robberies and thefts. Now,
what's being done about this is the Mayor of Auckland.
There's Wayne Brown of course as well. It's Wayne morning,

(00:22):
good morning. These numbers. Is this actually you or is
it Auckland Transport or is it the contractor or is
it all of us?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
That's probably a reflection of society unfortunately. I mean in
the paby yesterday there's shocking numbers of the kids who
aren't going to school and I mean none of them
are going angry up to be tradesmen or doctors, and
so that's frightening as well. So there is an issue
right across the whole of society, and people get shot

(00:51):
and the constably in a bar. You know, it's and
transport is reflecting it. I mean, one of the drawbacks
about them increasing their percentage of people on catching on transport,
which is good that more people are getting on buses,
but more of the wrong people as well as the
right people as well, obviously.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Yeah, but that's your problem though, isn't it. Because you
want to encourage public transport and people get a reputation
which it already has a reputation that's dangerous, they won't
use it.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
There's a problem, There's no question about that. And I
mean it's not as if atue it's got a particularly
high public appreciation levels. They aim for city and got
twenty four and then they told we got a twenty
percent increase to twenty eight, which is still not very good. Mate.
But the right across the whole of our society, things

(01:46):
have got bad. There's sort of you know, the sort
of people that go in to supermarkets and refuse to
pay and walk out and everyone's too scared to hit them.
They're on a bus and saying telling a bus drivers, oh,
we're not going to pay, what are you going to
do about it? And I mean the bus drivers are
port bushe We've just spent six million dollars set aside
and it's being spent right now putting protection around a

(02:07):
bus driver. A bus drivers are a moderately lowly paid
job of doing providing a service for all of us,
and it shouldn't be dangerous. I mean, the whole thing's appalling,
and you can't afford to have a policeman on every bus,
but the police have agreed to be more at the hubs,
at the transport hubs, and occasionally get on the bus.

(02:29):
I said, you can get on free, just right. You're
seen on the buses regularly, you know, just so that
people except that there might be a bust.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
So is that the answer? I mean, there's one of
several lines that I can work out. Either you get
the cops on the bus or security on the bus
or the trains or whatever the case may be. Or
you cage the driver up, or you train the driver
to defend or do something about it. But that's all cost,
isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
We have spent them, we've push it aside the money,
and we are caging the driver to protect him. But
you can't cage every passenger. And the risks on the
buses are actually statistically about the same as a risk
on the street, just getting risk. No, it's not good.
But what I'm saying is essentially we've got to actually

(03:15):
learn to behave better.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Wouldn't that be a good idea?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Wouldn't that be great? But well, well I think the
judges are going to be tough enough, but too much understanding.
I had a bad trial too or something or you know.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Well, that's that's central government, doesn't it. While I've got
you this speedway thing, how long, lay laborious and boring,
was a seven hour meeting over why like a record
park for God's sake?

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Well, I didn't enjoy it, and so it was brought
to a clothes using some systems, and the upset people
because they said they need a chance to speak. I mean,
essentially the speedway. I'm a great favor of getting more
use out of what we've got, and I have had
to put up the people from rugby League saying we

(04:01):
can't plan the same paddox as rugby union. I'm going
you can't at the same time, but you can't after
each other. And we've got why Cracker Park, which is
an area where people don't really complain about the noise,
and the operator's happy to go there. The guy puts
his money into it and actually takes the risk, and
where there be eleven million dollars spent tarting the place up,

(04:24):
and we give him a proper track and decent billets
and things. It's kind of like it's moderately sensible to me.
And of course, of course, if you do anything, you
piss somebody else, and so that people don't like any change.
And I mean Queen Street used to be a farm,
but it's not any more oldly enough.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Change happens probably to be frank, have you been down
Queen Street lately?

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Well, we won't go there. I do go down Queen
Street at all, And but it could be a lot
nicer and and change happens, and there's been sure. I
quite like Speedway, and I've got mates are deeply involved,

(05:12):
and we're not canceling speed but I've given them a
place which for thirty years. They've got a lease there
with an operation along its along with stock cart. It
becomes a center for that open wheel sport. They get
eleven million bills out of the savings from not men
to cover the cost it Western Springs and something else
that but other than it is at Western Springs, but
it'll be something else there. And it was just kind

(05:36):
of like we've got to we're going to move on
sometimes and it's just hard to do anything. I think
we've got to be a bit more happy about This
is a positive change and it guarantees those people security
for thirty years in an area where people will be

(06:00):
more heavy about it.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
My view, Wayne could catch up with you. Appreciate very much,
Wayne Brown, Mayor Balkland. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,
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