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An attack on an Auckland Transport (AT) bus has left a 16-year-old boy and his family shaken and wary of using public transport.
The incident occurred on December 9 when the teen boarded the NX1 from Albany to Silverdale at 2.45pm. During the trip, he says he was approached by a group of teenagers, who harassed him and then was physically assaulted by a young female while several young men of similar age filmed them.
Although no serious physical damage was done, the family is now wondering about how safe it is to take public transport. The victim’s mother says her son won’t ride the bus now.
“He’s waiting until he gets his restricted license so he can drive himself,” she says.
Although most buses are equipped with CCTV cameras, his mother is concerned at how difficult it is to monitor encounters on public transport.
If similar occurrences have happened to other people, she also encourages them to reach out to the police or others about it. She says that holding these people accountable for their actions is crucial in making sure it doesn’t keep happening.
“It’d be great if your kids could travel to this beautiful country without the fear of being attacked,” she says.
The incident has been reported to the police.
Group Manager Public Transport Operations Auckland Transport Rachel Cara advised that all Auckland Transport (AT) buses are fitted with multiple CCTV cameras, and the footage can be downloaded by the bus operator and provided to police. They are also fitted with duress buttons that record audio and GPS when activated, and the Bus Operations Centre can hear what is happening “live” and guide emergency services to respond.
“There are 65 Transport Officers across the network, trained to deescalate situations, manage fare evasion, and manage public safety. They are deployed based on intelligence to targeted locations where we have known issues,” she says.
“There are designated safety points at all facilities and major interchanges that connect to surveillance staff in our 24/7 Operations Centre. We have over 5,000 cameras across the wider network that provide live CCTV footage to our Operations Centre.”
“We encourage customers to report any observations or experiences of antisocial behaviour to us. There are a number of ways this can be done – direct to our AT Contact Centre, on our website, via our AT Mobile App and anonymously via Crimestoppers text service (text 4030). Please contact police in emergencies,” Cara said.
