Auckland bus stations in New Lynn, Henderson and Albany have boosted security after a string of violent attacks on teenagers.
At the New Lynn bus station, two 13-year-olds were set upon by as many as 20 other teens.
There have also been similar attacks at the Henderson and Albany transport hubs.
The spike in attacks had led to extra security patrols at known trouble spots during busy times, Auckland Transport public transport operations general manager Rachel Cara said.
She put the spike in attacks down to the school holidays and told Midday Report it was small minority of people causing these issues.
"We have deployed additional security to the likes of New Lynn, Henderson, Albany, and we've linked in with police.
"We've seen an increased presence of police over the last couple of weeks at these transport hubs."
Auckland Transport put the spike in attacks down to the school holidays. Photo: RNZ / Delphine Herbert
She said it was a "societal issue" and the community needed to come together to stop such aggressive incidents and random attacks on young people.
First Union represents bus drivers, and organiser Hayley Courtney said drivers often encountered trouble on the bus.
"It's a mixture, where people are getting attacked with weapons punched or kicked, racially abused, sexually harassed, among other bad behaviours," she told Checkpoint.
"Bus drivers are fearing for their lives every day ... worrying about if they can get back home to their families after work."
"The responsibility falls on Auckland Transport and while they've just announced they've increased security at stations, they're not doing anything proactively to protect bus drivers by funding and providing security on buses to keep everybody safe."
She said AT should enhance security on buses, especially in hotspot areas and routes.
