Stock photo. Police said they were called on Saturday evening to a bus parked on Customs Street East after a driver was punched. Photo: Duoya Lu
Two bus drivers were assaulted within one hour of each other in Auckland on Saturday night.
Police said they were called to Customs Street East at about 7.40pm after a bus driver was punched several times by a passenger.
A 58-year-old man was arrested at the scene and was scheduled to appear at Auckland District Court on Monday charged with assault with intent to injure.
About 8.30pm, police said they received a report another bus driver had been assaulted by a passenger on a bus in Grey Lynn.
The passenger fled the scene.
Tramways Union president Gray Froggatt said attacks on drivers were terrible and should not happen.
Froggat said both drivers were recovering at home after being discharged from hospital.
The Transport Agency announced last week plexiglass driver protection screens would be installed on all Auckland buses by 2026.
The Transport agency had allocated $15 million to improving safety for bus drivers, including screens and on-board live CCTV which is being trialled on 30 buses.
Froggatt said safety measures including screens could not come soon enough.
"At least it's a start. It's unfortunate it has taken so long to get to this stage."
He said the number of assaults had been increasing since Covid-19 and drivers urgently needed more protection.
"This has been going on for some time.
"We'd like to have a police officer on every bus but that's not practical."
Auckland Transport service operations manager Duncan McGrory said the drivers were being supported by the bus company and would return to work later in the week.
McGrory said passengers had stepped in to help during both cases.
"After both incidents on Saturday night passengers onboard came to the aid of the drivers, helping to support them until emergency services arrived."
He said AT were supporting police with their investigations, including providing CCTV footage from both buses.
AT said it had installed driver protection screens on 40 of its buses and an additional 300 buses would have safety screens by July.
McGrory said they were focusing on CityLink buses first.
"Screens are currently being installed on buses that run through the heart of Auckland's city centre, where bus drivers have told us that they want to feel more protected.
He said violence against drivers or passengers was completely unacceptable.
"These bus driver safety screens will go a long way to keeping Auckland's bus drivers safe at work.
"But we need to keep working together as a community to address the underlying causes of violent, threatening and antisocial behaviour in our public places."