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Bus driver unions are concerned that companies with poorer quality school buses are compromising safety in the name of profit.
"Larger bus companies have very stringent rules for maintaining safety standards," said Gary Froggatt, national secretary of the Tramways Union, which represents about 800 Stagecoach bus drivers.
But he said smaller companies had greater financial incentive to do the bare minimum to meet vehicle standards.
"What worries my union is the standard of maintenance of buses in some of the small, isolated bus companies around the country."
Northern Distribution Union transport secretary Karl Anderson agreed, but said it was not limited to small companies.
"If you stuck Party Buses side by side with [Auckland company] Howick and Eastern, Party wouldn't come within a bull's roar in the quality of their vehicles."
The comments come after a series of school bus accidents this week, including one that saw five St Patrick's College pupils taken for hospital treatment.
It followed two school bus accidents in Auckland, one in which 19 pupils were injured.
Both Auckland accidents involved buses from the Party Bus Company.
Party Bus director Gary Mills defended his fleet of 34 buses, saying the company had spent $150,000 in the past 12 months ensuring the buses and their drivers were up to scratch.
