A bus company has issued an apology after one of their Auckland drivers was caught on camera swearing at and kicking out a passenger at a stop in Newmarket.
Passengers had become frustrated after the bus driver stopped partway through the journey without explaining what was happening, a passenger told Newshub.
Footage shows a passenger and the driver arguing, with the driver telling the passenger to get off the bus before swearing at him.
"You have to inform us," the passenger can be heard saying to the driver.
They exchange angry words about complaining to the company and the driver tells the man to get off before telling him to "f**k off".
"Excuse me! Language!" the passenger responds from outside the bus.
"Get off!" the driver repeats.
NZ Bus issued a statement to Newshub today saying they became aware of the incident only after the footage was posted online.
"It is unacceptable that one of our drivers swore at a passenger as this goes against our company values and customer service goals," a spokesperson said.
"We have commenced our investigation into the matter and will take appropriate actions with the driver when the investigation is complete.
"NZ Bus wishes to apologise to the passengers on the bus for any distress from the incident."
The woman who filmed the tail-end of the exchange got on the bus in Mount Wellington and was travelling to the city centre. The bus reached Newmarket at 6.50am on Monday morning, where the driver stopped. Passengers watched in confusion as minutes passed and other buses came and went around them, she said.
The woman said the bus was about half-full of passengers. After some passengers became so frustrated they left the bus, one woman asked the driver why the bus had stopped.
'"Because we have to leave here at 7am"', the driver replied sharply, the woman who filmed the exchange told Newshub.
"It was so rude," she said.
That's when things started to heat up.
"[Another] passenger who was sitting at the back of the bus had asked him, 'Oh, well, it would have been nice if you had told us. The buses are just coming and going.' And the bus driver yelled back at him, 'If you don't want to be on this bus then get off.' So the passenger had walked to the front and then it escalated."
At that point, the woman started filming the exchange so that she could use it to lodge a complaint with NZ Bus, which operates Metrolink.
She says the swearing was shocking.
"The way he was speaking to the passengers - it was rude, so I thought I would take footage so I could complain to Metrolink in terms of his attitude. But I was surprised that he swore at him."
Newshub.
