7 October 2025
The Finocchiaro CLP Government continues to address community safety on the Territory's bus network with a 3 day visibility operation targeting anti-social behaviour.
From today, Transit Officers will join Wilson Security, NT Police, Family and Youth Support officers and Student Engagement Officers across the network in Darwin and Palmerston.
Transit Officers can direct a person to leave a bus, interchange or stop, issue on-the-spot fines, arrest and detain a person if they have reasonable ground to believe a person has committed an offence and seize dangerous articles from someone who has been arrested.
They'll be patrolling known hot spots and problematic bus routes as they work through to support the last buses of the evening.
Minister for Infrastructure, Bill Yan said the operation delivered security and certainty for drivers and passengers.
"These crackdowns are an integral part of improving safety on our bus network," he said.
"Everyone deserves to get to their destination with safety and respect on our public transport network and these operations help achieve that."
Minister Yan said the last operation saw a marked drop in anti-social behaviour across the bus network after the first day.
"The high visibility strategy sends a clear message that anti-social behaviour in any form will not be tolerated."
He said the CLP's recent strengthening of powers for Transit Officers were providing additional safety measures for bus drivers and passengers.
"There is a clear standard that we expect people to have when using and sharing public transport.
"These new powers help our officers do their job to enforce them," he said.
"This is a further example of holding offenders to account so everyone else can benefit from a growing economy and enjoy our Territory lifestyle."
The CLP are delivering a raft of bus safety reform initiatives, as part of their Reducing Crime Strategy here to tackle anti-social behaviour, improve safety and enhance service delivery.
· Installing safety screens for every driver
· closing problematic bus interchanges,
· expanding CCTV at known hotspots,
· enhancing on-board duress alarms and direct radio links to Transit Officers,
· launching a new and improved NT Bus Tracker App,
· Improving driver safety by removing the need to carry cash
