Parents, principals hit back at Auckland Transport plan to put primary kids on public buses

November 16, 2017

Some parents and principals are calling for more consultation on schedule changes, which will see some school services scrapped.

Residents of an Auckland suburb are hitting back at new public transport plans that'll see some school bus services scrapped. 

Some mothers are furious their dedicated school bus is being replaced with a public service that won't drop their kids at the front gate, and say the safety of the children is in question. 

Parents and principals are calling for more consultation on the changes. 

"No one really wants intermediate or primary children especially to walk on their own and be on a public bus when they don't know the driver and they don't know the people on the bus," Angelika Sansom, one of the mothers, told 1 NEWS. 

Auckland Transport says the changes are part of a complete restructure of the city's bus network, designed to be simpler, better integrated and more convenient. 

"Initially every single person who uses a bus in east Auckland will be affected. So every single bus route will change," said Anthony Cross, AT Network Development Manager.

But the change will see the schoolgirls dropped 10 minutes away from Botany Downs Primary School. 

Parents are concerned their children then need to cross a park, go over a bridge and cross another road to get to school, a distance Google Maps shows is 450 metres. 

The principal of Botany Downs Primary, Bruce Trezise, says only a small number of pupils use the bus, but with 17 local schools affected, he'd like more consultation.

"All I know about it is an email received saying the bus service was being cancelled," he said.

"If they're using public transport we don't have the same safeguards that we might have with a service that's provided just for the school children."

Auckland Transport says safety is paramount, buses are fitted with CCTV cameras and the change is still open to discussion.

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