Kerre Woodham: How was violence against bus drivers allowed to become such a problem?

Whatever happened to a ‘morning driver’ and a ‘thank you driver’ as you hopped on and off the bus? The violence and racial abuse of bus drivers and indeed their commuters, their passengers using public transport, has got so bad in recent times that the Bus and Coach Association is calling for more security officers to ride along on bus routes, for safety screens to be installed on buses, and now the Government is making offences against public transport workers an aggravating factor in sentencing. Along with the tougher sentences, the Government’s investing $15 million specifically for practical improvements to driver safety, like retrofitting the aforementioned safety screens and real time CCTV monitoring.  

Auckland Transport's general manager for safety said earlier this year that there's an ongoing trend of drivers being attacked that began in the last few years coming out of Covid. And it isn't just the drivers being attacked, there have been awful racially-motivated attacks on passengers as well, that have been well covered in the media. Bus and Coach Association CEO Delaney Myers spoke to the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning and agreed that the problems on public transport are definitely getting worse.  

“It's not just violence, you know, we've got threats, aggression and, in particular racial slurs going on and it's just unacceptable. No one should be abused in their workplace. It is getting worse. And look, we know many of these incidents involve people who are on the fringes of society with mental health and drug and alcohol issues. You know, for us, we're not seeing this as just a public transport problem, it's a complex societal issue. But you know the ramifications on us at the end of it and, you know, delivering public transport services significant and we do need more help to keep people safe.  

“It is unfortunate things have come to this because most of our passengers love engaging, you know, most of the drivers love engaging with the passengers, but we do need to keep them safe and a physical barrier is part of that, but it doesn't help stop the threats and the racial abuse or keep passengers safe. So really what we'd like to see in addition is increased personnel support on buses because we know that the presence of authority figures helps to moderate behaviour.” 

Auckland Transport has about 40 transport officers who are on the worst routes to provide safety and security for drivers, as well as diffusing situations when they occur. Security personnel have been hired by Otago Regional Council since December of last year to monitor the bus hub, to discourage incidents of disorder and threatening conduct, and in March of this year, services were extended to cover a targeted security presence on buses. 

Delaney Myers is right, though, it's a bigger issue than just disruptive commuters. It's a complex societal issue, but how on Earth did it get to this? We've always had drunks and aggressive bullies and people whose mental disorders take them down a violent path. Not everybody's does, some do, but they've always been in our communities. What made them able to become a huge problem rather than an aberrant individual that you saw perhaps once every couple of years? Is it letting them get away with it? If somebody is racially abusing or threatening a poor bus driver or fellow passenger, do other people step in? I can well understand why people might not given how vicious and unpredictable humans are today. Would you run the risk of stepping in to stop somebody racially abusing some poor young kid when it means you might not get home to your own? And is that is that how they've been able to take hold?  

These bad eggs, there is so much money being spent on them. They've caused so much pain and so much fear. When on

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood and Mornings podcast from newstalk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Whatever happened to a morning driver and a thank you
driver as you hopped on and off the bus. The
violence and racial abuse of bus drivers and indeed their
commuters their passengers using public transport has got so bad
in recent times that the Bus and Coach Association is
calling for more security officers to ride along on bus routes,

(00:34):
for safety screens to be installed on buses, and now
the government is making offenses against public transport workers an
aggravating factor in sentencing. Along with the tougher sentences, the
government's investing fifty million dollars specifically for practical improvements to
drive safety, like retrofitting the aforementioned safety screens and real

(00:58):
time CCTV monitoring. Auckland Transports General Manager for Safety Are
said earlier this year that there's an ongoing trend of
drivers being attacked that began in the last few years
coming out of COVID, and it isn't just the drivers
being attacked. There have been awful racially motivated attacks on

(01:19):
passengers as well that have been well covered in the media.
Bus and Coach Association CEO Delaney Myers spoke to the
My Costing Breakfast this morning and agreed that the problems
on public transport are definitely getting worse.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's not just violence, you know, we've got threats, aggression,
and in particular racial slus going on and it's just unacceptable.
No one should be abused in their workplace. It is
getting worse. And look, we know many of these incidents
involved people who are in fringes of society with mental
health and drug and alcohol issues. So you know, for us,
we're not seeing this as just a public transport problem.
It's a complex societal issue. But you know, the ramifications

(01:56):
on us at the end of it delivering public transport
services are significant, and we do need more help to
keep people safe. It is unfortunate things have come to
this because most of our passengers love engaging, you know,
most of the drivers love engaging with the passengers, but
we do need to keep them safe and a physical
barrier is part of that, but it doesn't help stop
the threats and the racial abuse or keep passengers safe.
So really, what we'd like to see in addition, has

(02:19):
increased personnel support on buses because we know that the
presence of authority figures helps to moderate behavior.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
So Auckland Transport has about forty transport officers who are
on the worst routes to provide safety and security for
drivers as well as diffusing situations when they occur. Security
personnel have been hired by a Targo Council Attigo Regional
Council since December of last year to monitor the bus

(02:46):
hub to discourage incidents of disorder and threatening conduct, and
in March of this year services were extended to cover
a targeted security presence on buses Delayy Myers is right though,
it's a bigger issue than just disruptive commuters. It's a
complex societal issue. But how on earth did it get

(03:07):
to this? We've always had drunks and aggressive bullies and
people whose mental disorders take them down a violent path.
Not everybody's, does some do, but there've always been in
our communities. What made them able to become a huge
problem rather than an aberrant individual that you saw perhaps

(03:32):
once every couple of years. Is it letting them get
away with it? If somebody is racially abusing or threatening
a poor bus driver or fallow passenger, do other people
step in? I mean, so many have got their AirPods
and now disengaging with the world. They might not hear it,

(03:54):
they might not see it. They might choose to do
that specifically so they don't hear or see anything and
feel the moral conflict of do I step and do
I don't? Because I can well understand why people might not,
and how vicious and unpredictable humans are today, especially if
you're a man. If you're a man, you're the size

(04:17):
of you, and the mere fact that you're a man
makes you more of a threat than if a woman
steps in, a smaller perhaps older or younger woman stepping
and saying, hey, steady on, But would you do that?
I mean, would you run the risk of stepping in
to stop somebody racially abusing some poor young kid when

(04:39):
it means you might not get home to your own
And that is that how they've been able to take
hold these bad eggs. There's so much money being spent
on them. They've caused so much pain and so much fear.
It's not when one schoolboy has racially attacked, he's attacked

(05:06):
purely and something because of his race, because of how
he looks. That's going to have a ripple effect throughout
the entire community. So how has that come to this?
I mean, would you step in? I mean, I know
it's not on every bus route. I know that there
are people who are perfectly able to get from point

(05:29):
A to point B and have a very pleasant ride.
It's not on every train route, but it's a big
enough problem that it's increasingly difficult to get people wanting
to be drivers. There's not only long hours and the
poor pay, but being spat at and abused and threatened
by low lives. Why would you, Well, you wouldn't, and

(05:54):
that's why it's so difficult to get the drivers. How
have we let it get to this? This isn't a
you know, this isn't a brand new phenomenon. As I say,
You know, drunks and people who behave badly have always
been amongst us. But how have they been allowed to

(06:16):
become such a problem.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
For more from Carry Wooden Mornings, listen live to news
talks that be from nine am weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.