‘People are stressed’: Union fears 70% drop in bus driver abuse might not last

Tuesday, 31 March 2026

Cases of aggression, verbal abuse, and violence towards Canterbury’s bus drivers plummeted last year.

But a public transport union worries that if stress levels rise as passengers start to feel their wallets squeezed by the impacts of the war in Iran, this positive trend could turn around.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) said it was “disappointed” after an incident where a Christchurch bus driver was spat at last Wednesday. On Monday, the Diamond Harbour ferry also posted a social media appeal for its crews to be treated with respect, with some passengers recently “speaking to ferry staff in a disrespectful or dismissive manner”.

These unfortunately haven’t been the only incidents in recent months. In January, a bus worker was allegedly assaulted by two young people at Christchurch’s central Bus Interchange.

Aggression, abuse down 70% on post-Covid peak

New data from the regional council shows that in 2025, there were only 37 incident reports filed for aggression towards drivers and skippers across Canterbury’s public transport network – including aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse, physical assaults, and robberies.

This was the lowest number recorded since 2021, the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the number of passenger trips taken was down by millions. Incidents then rose to a peak of 130 in 2023, before quickly dropping, with 104 reports in 2024.

Police were called in 19 cases last year, or for just over half of filed incidents. In 2023, they were called for about one in four.

When it came to physical assaults, there were just eight reported in 2025 – the same number as in 2024. These were down on the 2023 peak, where there were 13 incidents.

Even at its peak, it is worth noting the number of incidents compared to the total number of passenger trips remained low. In 2023, there was an average of one for every 100,000 trips taken.

ECan’s public transport general manager Stewart Gibbon said any drop in the number of incidents their drivers faced was a good thing.

“A few factors impacted the peak of incidents we saw in 2023. This was the period following Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions and the number of people returning to our services was increasing,” he said.

“It was also prior to our Metro onboard customer support team starting in early 2024.”

In April 2024, ECan began a one-year trial of “support officers” on Christchurch Metro buses, on some of the network's busier routes.

They were made up of staff from First Security, who were trained to de-escalate antisocial behaviour. After their first six months, 70% of drivers polled said they’d like to see them retained after the trial ended.

“While we can’t say for sure that the introduction of this team is the reason for incidents dropping, anecdotally we know they have made a real difference in providing support for our staff, drivers and customers where needed,” Gibbon said.

The onboard customer support team has remained in place.

“They continue to play a key role in helping keep our buses safe. Our operators also ensure drivers are equipped with appropriate training to help in a variety of situations, including ones of aggression or violence.”

Tough economy could see improvements ‘slump back’

Amalgamated Workers Union NZ (AWUNZ) public transport advocate Lindsay Chappell also said any drop in the abuse bus drivers faced was “more than welcome”.

Immediately after the pandemic, Chappell said the hostility drivers faced had been “very noticeable”. It was something the union hoped wouldn’t happen again, even if food and fuel prices continued to climb.

“Everyone was stressed,” he said. “It took people quite some time to wind down, which included the members of the public [drivers] deal with. Certainly they’ve been a bit more restrained in their attitude towards drivers, but it's not completely diminished.

“We still get the odd complaint. I’ve had one this morning about a driver being spat at … it’s just not acceptable behaviour.”

With the economy the way it is, Chappell didn’t see this improving in the near future. It could even “slump back”, he said.

“It's not giving us any warm, fuzzy feelings about it staying that way, because people … they just get stressed. It doesn't matter what region, what area, it's the same across the country.”

In general, Canterbury’s drivers now felt “a little safer” than they had. But the onboard safety officers couldn’t be everywhere at once.

“Following the high rate of incidents pre-25, the company has been responsible. Both the major companies here introduced de-escalation training, and we think that’s been a positive to help people … deal with those situations when they arise.”

But he wasn’t sure problems could ever be entirely avoided. Even screens, which could help avoid a repeat of last week’s spitting incident, would leave some drivers feeling “caged”.

“Drivers certainly don't know what's going on in that person's head when they get on a bus. Sometimes you can't de-escalate that stuff, but the drivers do a pretty good job as a rule”.