A Whangārei bus route has been changed to avoid a street where repeated rock-throwing has damaged buses and puts drivers and passengers in danger.
A Whangārei bus route has been changed to avoid a street where buses have been pelted with rocks. Photo: Supplied / NRC
Northland Regional Council transport manager Chris Powell said CityLink's Otangarei Route Four would bypass Matai St until further notice, while police searched for the culprits.
He said bus windows were smashed on Saturday and Monday, leaving passengers and drivers shaken but unhurt.
The council took such incidents very seriously, he said.
More rocks had been thrown since then, including today, prompting the route change.
In the meantime, the Route Four bus would instead do a loop around nearby William Jones Drive.
Some regular passengers would be affected, but both the council and bus operator Ritchies felt they had no choice but to avoid Matai St until the problem was resolved.
"We've got a responsibility to both our drivers and passengers to ensure that we're operating in a safe environment, hence today's decision."
Powell said council and Ritchies representatives hoped to meet Otangarei community leaders to find a way of stopping the rock throwing.
He said the suburb had suffered a previous spate of rock-throwing about 10 years ago.
At that time the council and Ritchies had convinced the local community of the importance of the bus service, and the fact it was being put at risk.
Whangārei's 16-bus CityLink network is operated by Ritchies Transport under contract to the Northland Regional Council.
