Five hours behind the wheel without a toilet break, passengers shouting abuse, and the occasional drunk standing over you demanding a detour — that's the unvarnished side of life as an Auckland bus driver, laid out in a frank interview with NZ Herald Travel.
The driver, one of few women at her depot, describes problems most riders never think about. There's the industry's grimly nicknamed "bus driver's bowel": with a full bus and tight schedules, stopping for a toilet is nearly impossible, and many shops refuse to let staff use their facilities. She recalls a colleague frantically dashing into stores because she thought she'd wet herself.
Then there's the human side of fare disputes. Instead of resenting passengers who claim they've "just topped up" a travel card with insufficient funds, she'd rather hear an honest "I haven't got any money" — and often lets it slide. She also picks up homeless passengers heading to the City Mission for meals, and says the job has taught her to keep her judgments to herself.
Safety looms large. Before protective doors became standard, drivers were within arm's reach of anyone boarding. She describes a night when a drunk, aggressive passenger stood over her shouting that she was going the wrong way — until two large fellow riders marched him off. There have been times she's had to call police. Night shifts bring out the worst in people, she says: end-of-day frustrations and a few drinks too many, sometimes taken out on the driver.
Timetables are another sore point. Auckland congestion often makes schedules unachievable, and new drivers burn unpaid personal time trying to stay on track. Management's advice is blunt: safety first, timetable second, and phone in if you're running late. She admits she used to open the door defensively, expecting complaints from waiting passengers — though most of the time, the hostility she braced for existed only in her head.
Pay has improved noticeably: she now earns around NZ$30 an hour, up from under $20 when she started. And despite everything, she says the good outweighs the bad "massively". She's never lonely, ends most shifts grinning, and her favourite moments involve children on board — including one toddler who sang "The Wheels on the Bus" from the upper deck all the way into town.
For travellers, it's a useful reminder that the person in the driver's seat is juggling traffic, safety and difficult passengers at once. A "thank you, driver" — the small courtesy she says brightens her day — costs nothing and, in Auckland as anywhere, goes a long way.
Story reported by NZ Herald Travel.
