Commuters hoping for resolution to strike

Hina Kikla told her children to stay home yesterday. Shuttling them to two different schools during the bus strike while also dealing with staff-transport problems at the downtown Muffin Break cafe had proved impossible.

"I'm really frustrated," the Mt Albert resident said.

"They had to miss school because I was having staff problems. They really feel bad about it."

But as Auckland entered the fifth day of the Stagecoach bus strike, residents remained supportive of drivers who are demanding a higher pay rate - as long as the stand-off doesn't last too long.

"They have something very special to fight for," Papakura resident Pita Tanaki said as he waited for a train instead of his normal bus.

"But going on for a week - it's already too long for some."

The strike has been a nightmare for students who rely on Stagecoach buses to get to school, but good news for some businesses.

"There used to be heaps of school buses, and now there's nothing," said Otahuhu College student Rebecca Sanaisitou.

She took the train to school yesterday.

Taxi driver Sanjay Ram said custom had almost doubled.

"Hopefully through tomorrow and that's it," he said, sitting with his cab parked in front of a bus shelter near the Glen Innes train stop.

Cars filled the lot next to the station, where drivers resorted to parking on yellow lines.

Some new riders found a shorter commute.

Hesham Elhalaby said his normal bus trip took between 40 minutes and an hour, while the train took about 10 minutes. But as a monthly pass holder, he's losing out on six paid days of rides.

He's not worried about that loss now, he said, but he would do something about it if it continued.