Auckland buses are not safe

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johno1234

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#323783 14-Jan-2026 19:11

Another attack on an Auckland bus today, this time against a driver.

My son’s GF is now scared to use the bus after witnessing creepy, threatening behaviour from a weird guy.

My daughter relies on the bus to get to her job. Her route seems less troublesome but it makes me worry.

What’s the solution? The bus fare is already too expensive so there’s no way they can afford to put security staff on them. All I can think of is more cameras and aggressive investigation and prosecution of all offensive behaviour.

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#3453057 14-Jan-2026 19:36

I thought they were installing a door to seperate the driver from the passengers on all the buses?

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#3453058 14-Jan-2026 19:43

I caught a bus from Constellation Drive on the Shore to Silverdale only 2 weeks back and 2 guys got on board and started blasting music out a Bluetooth speaker and vaping on the bus! The music was loud and the main verse was something like this ' Ni**gers ' going to sort you out and Fook you up ' something to this effect

I was shocked and the bus driver did nothing

gzt

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#3453063 14-Jan-2026 20:32

DjShadow: I thought they were installing a door to seperate the driver from the passengers on all the buses?

It's going to be harder to separate the passengers from the passengers.

insane

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#3453068 14-Jan-2026 20:56

I've been taking the bus to work several times a week for the last 4 years and have only had a couple mildly uncomfortable moments. If I ever did feel sufficiently unsafe I would just move to another seat and/or get off the bus and take the next one. But I appreciate I'm not representative of most passengers or someone likely to get creeped on by another guy.

Our society seems to be getter more violent in general though, or perhaps it's just more visible with social and digital media.

Stu1

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#3453071 14-Jan-2026 21:13

Linux:

I caught a bus from Constellation Drive on the Shore to Silverdale only 2 weeks back and 2 guys got on board and started blasting music out a Bluetooth speaker and vaping on the bus! The music was loud and the main verse was something like this ' Ni**gers ' going to sort you out and Fook you up ' something to this effect

I was shocked and the bus driver did nothing

Normal for buses in Lower Hutt, happens all the time they don’t care , bus drivers too scared to say anything

pdh

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#3453507 15-Jan-2026 23:48

>Our society seems to be getter (sic) more violent in general though

Not saying that I'd like to live in Singapore - or Dubai - but societies' decisions have consequences.
Our decisions over the past 60 years have all been in the direction of condoning bad behaviour...
So we have more of it.

Singapore & Dubai are ridiculously safe - unless you engage in bad behaviour...
Then you are taught very quickly to stop it.

I admire what we have achieved (in Auckland) with the bus-way and improved train infrastructure...
But I sincerely hope that it is all obsolete within 10 years.
15 at the outside.

Combine the concept of uber with fully self-driving vehicles and you get a much better and lower-cost mass transit system than is possible with bus-ways and trains. They are/were 19th century tech. Cars are/were 20th C tech.

When 21st C tech (self-driving uber) gets here, we'll see these benefits

(a) you are at greatly reduced risk of unpleasant human interaction
(b) you get to door-to-door, dry, warm & private service
(c) you don't need urban or station car parks - or on-street parking
(d) you have minimal empty seats
(e) you can have full bus-way lanes... instead of them being 5% utilised
(f) you have no single-point-of-failure - except (maybe) the app
(g) you can transport big parcels / luggage / multiple bags of shopping / prams / pets
(h) you could choose to reduce your cost by intelligent (safe) ride-share
(i) you will benefit from speed increases - as self-driving becomes as safe as elevators
(j) you will only bother with urban private car use - as a mark of extreme wealth/luxury

Perhaps the biggest attraction is that it will cease to be a government monopoly.
Hopefully !

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Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

xpd

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#3453516 16-Jan-2026 07:32

DjShadow:

I thought they were installing a door to seperate the driver from the passengers on all the buses?

Some bus companies have and on some routes.... not all.

XPD / Gavin

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#3453517 16-Jan-2026 07:35

Linux:

I caught a bus from Constellation Drive on the Shore to Silverdale only 2 weeks back and 2 guys got on board and started blasting music out a Bluetooth speaker and vaping on the bus! The music was loud and the main verse was something like this ' Ni**gers ' going to sort you out and Fook you up ' something to this effect

I was shocked and the bus driver did nothing

Thought I sensed extra geekiness in the area.....

Yeah, drivers don't do anything because they'll either end up being attacked, or accused of something that never happened.

The cameras on buses need to be monitored live on the routes repeat incidents have happened, and then cops/security can be alerted straight away. But wont happen...

XPD / Gavin

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#3453519 16-Jan-2026 07:38

Then on the Herald this morning people getting attacked on the train for no reason

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-train-assault-victims-left-deeply-fearful-of-public-transport-after-late-night-attack/6LT2YCUPXNBMZJYUOS3T4M64UA/

askelon

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#3453525 16-Jan-2026 08:32

It seems to be rare when there isnt a problem on West Auckland buses/trains these days. I was on one bus that literally swerved to try and hit someone crossing the road "cause the driver had issues with the person previously". Reported it and got back the usual BS, nothing to report blah blah.

Its not unusual for some tard to be vaping in the back, have their really really fantastic music blaring, or have a conversation on speakerphone so the whole bus can hear about your exploits with your cousin/sister and how you got 50 stis.

Then theres the ones that dont pay - there is ALWAYS at least one of them when Im leaving Henderson to my house. When schools back in 75% of the kids dont bother tagging on/off cause why should they.

For the most part the drivers just let it happen, the times Ive seen one lose their cool hasnt been pleasant and seems to be increasing.

A friend was out Westcity last week and thought parking in the mall parking near the bus/train stops was a good idea. A bunch of thugs got into a fight involving quite a few people, two Police officers were standing 20 seconds walk away and just watched until the public got involved to try and break it up. I told her she should have just chucked a bunch of knives out the window and let them go at it. Wasnt something her kids should have to deal with though.

xpd

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#3453539 16-Jan-2026 09:13

askelon:

Its not unusual for some tard to be vaping in the back, have their really really fantastic music blaring, or have a conversation on speakerphone so the whole bus can hear about your exploits with your cousin/sister and how you got 50 stis.

Yup, have at least one of those every day I'm on the bus.

And the other fun one, is when they're on speaker phone, and then say "I'll transfer money to you soon as I hang up." - they hang up, open their bank app, enter their PIN and do their transaction. All while I can see clear as day their screen and their PIN entered while I'm in the slightly raised seat behind them.

Apart from me not being a crook, not much to stop me from bashing them, taking their phone and now have full access to their bank.

More than just physical security needed on buses....

XPD / Gavin

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MikeB4

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#3453542 16-Jan-2026 09:37

All buses are unsafe. I wont use them as they wont wait until one is seated before driving off. When I was using short arm crutches I fell over in the aisle because the driver did a drag race take off. I got a nasty cut in my head as a result. I have since tried while beig wheelchair bound but the *(%$ *#@$% drive straight by when I am waiting at the stop. I now use Uber exclusively

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

SpartanVXL

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#3453547 16-Jan-2026 09:50

I can’t say my experience has been bad, but the times I have used it has been during the work rush so before 8am and after 5pm on weekdays. Bus is normally packed going to city on the northern and everyone is a worker or uni students trying to get somewhere so nobody is in the mood to be doing much.

allan

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#3453564 16-Jan-2026 10:42

Have to say the Wellington City buses appear to be much safer, but then I live near the most frequent and well used service with buses about every 7-8 minutes. I guess when a bus is full, it's harder to be a prat.

sen8or

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#3453567 16-Jan-2026 10:55

Respect for other people just doesn't seem to be a value taught here anymore, its all about "me" and what "I" want rather than how does what I am doing effect anyone/everyone else.

We went to Japan mid last year, now there is a race of people that know about the need for respect for those around you. Millions of people bustling about on public transport on a daily basis, the train stations are like mini cities with tsunami's of people all heading to their destination, yet they all seem to abide by some unwritten code, there is no noise on the trains, no music blasting, not even a cell phone ring, conversations between people are even in hushed tones (if there is any). They wait patiently for passengers to get out of the carriage before boarding (and they que rather than rush the door).

Read a story on NZHearald today about a group of 30 or so drunk teens causing havoc on our public transport network. Another ringing endorsement for the "coddle them" generation

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