Blogger starts war on obese bus passengers

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A blogger has declared overweight passengers have become a problem for taking up too much room on Auckland buses.

In an article that has enraged many, Jon Colt launched into a tirade about "very wide" people and "pot-bellied" men who encroach on his space.

He wrote yesterday on aucklandtrains.co.nz that a number of people had contacted him about passengers who fill more than one seat.

In a post titled "Next Big Commuter Challenge" he said he initially thought the complainants were "being a little precious", so caught the bus himself.

Mr Colt recorded his experiences and took photos of people on the bus.

He said he first sat next to "a very large woman who took up half my seat and forced me to even have to dangle my legs in the aisle as I had to sit sideways on half a seat to avoid her huge mid-girth".

His experience the following day: "A very pot-bellied tall man was standing besides where I was sitting half way between the driver and the exit.

"When I got up to exit the bus, I couldn't manoeuvre past him as he was stuck taking up the width of the aisle and he couldn't move down as the bus was packed further back."

He said it was not obese people who had been discriminated against, but thin people who "get squeezed" on bus seats.

Auckland Transport said it had not received any complaints about people who take up more than one seat.

Spokeswoman Sharon Hunter added there were no plans for charging customers extra for taking up two seats. "We and our operators do not discriminate on the basis of size."

Auckland Council transport committee chairman Mike Lee said he had "never heard of it as an issue, ever".

Mr Colt told the Herald his tirade had been inspired after 15 people had contacted him about the issue.

He said he had received 75 emails of support from people who believed obese people were an issue.

"The rest of the emails, from a post that has obviously gone viral, slam me using every name under the sun for being discriminatory about fat people and saying it should have never have been talked about.

"It's obviously tapped into a secret frustration that is not politically correct to talk about."