'We don’t feel safe here': Teen calls for greater safety at bus exchange

Thursday, 5 June 2025

Ruby-Grace Miller has been catcalled, abused and even chased by someone who took a dislike to her red hair at the Christchurch bus exchange - and she’s not alone.

The 17-year-old took her concerns about the safety of the interchange on Lichfield St to the city’s leaders at a council meeting on Wednesday.

She travels from South Shore to her central city school Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery each day and has been harassed, threatened and verbally abused over her red hair.

On one occasion a person in the bus exchange chased after her screaming “I’m going to get you ranga”.

But she knows these experiences are common among young people - and that’s the message she took to councillors.

“The truth is we don’t feel safe here,” she told them on Wednesday.

Together with some other students, Ruby-Grace surveyed 240 students at 10 high schools around the city.

They found 56% of those surveyed had experienced aggressive behaviour, 59% had seen people who were drunk, 38% had seen vandalism or property damage, and 50% felt watched or harassed.

A smaller number (16%) said they had seen security guards at the exchange acting unprofessionally, including vaping with young people and encouraging fights, she told councillors.

The bad behaviour extended to the buses, with some surveyed reporting harassment on the bus by strangers.

“And too often, the security guards just stood by — or worse, joined in,” Ruby-Grace told councillors.

Asked how safe they felt [at the bus exchange] 84% responded between “extremely unsafe” to “neutral”.

As the survey respondents were not required to provide any personal information, Ruby-Grace was not sure of the break-down in information by gender.

However, she believed girls experienced real or perceived threats to safety on a “much more regular basis”.

The experiences of feeling unsafe in public spaces could harm people’s self-esteem and affect their confidence and needed to be taken seriously, Ruby-Grace said.

With one third of those surveyed using a bus every day and most young people taking a bus once a month, the lack of safety was “not okay”, she said in the council meeting.

Comments of survey participants showed the presence of people at the bus exchange who were not travelling anywhere - including rough sleepers - was a significant factor in perceptions of safety.

“And while we absolutely recognise that homelessness is a complex social issue, the impact it’s having on young people trying to get home safely can’t be ignored,” Ruby-Grace said in her deputation.

Among suggestions for change, the 17-year-old called for an extension of opening hours for the Igloo Safe Space - a youth hub where young people could wait for their bus with the support of youth workers, increased funding to employ more youth workers, and “proper” training for security guards.

The survey found 98% of students were at the bus exchange between 3pm and 10pm and 75% didn’t know about the Igloo Safe Space. Of those who did use it, the space was highly valued.

“A safe space only works if people know it’s there — and if it’s actually open when we need it most,” Ruby-Grace said.

The Igloo Safe Space, run by Youth and Cultural Development (YCD), is open from 3pm to 6pm on weekdays during the school term. The charity received $750,000 in funding from the city council last year as part of a $2 million, three-year package to tackle safety and anti-social behaviour.

Council’s head of facilities and property Bruce Rendall said the council was aware of the issues raised by Ruby-Grace.

While there had been an increase in the number of people passing through the interchange, there had been a decrease in serious issues, Rendall said.

Seven formal complains had been made in the past year, including fighting, harassment, intoxication and protesters entering the building. Red Badge, the security provider, recorded 180 incidents incidents last year, the majority of which were swearing and unruly behaviour.

Council was aware of concerns regarding the conduct of some security guards, including vaping with young people and becoming overly familiar with them, he said.

The council had received two complaints of this nature since 2019, and YCD raised the issue in January this year. As a result, the council and Red Badge delivered additional training and increased management oversight, he said.

“We consider the response to date appropriate and in line with our expectations, however, we will work with Red Badge to make further adjustments as required.”

Rendall said YCD indicated they did not have capacity to extend hours, but noted most young people left the area by 5.15pm.

YCD had already delivered youth-specific training for security staff, he said.

“We value the YCD’s advice and remain committed to ensuring the Bus Interchange is a safe and welcoming space for all users, especially young people.”

Ecan acting general manager of public transport Sonia Pollard said on-board customer service was provided by First Security staff.

“Last year a First Security staff member was the subject of a vaping allegation, and this was addressed with First Security at the time. There have been no further allegations of this nature bought to our attention since.”