The Dunedin Tramways Union is dumbfounded by the Government’s decision not to provide more school buses to allow for social distancing.
Union secretary Philip Matthews said the Ministry of Education seemed more interested in saving money than saving lives.
"School buses have not run for nearly two months, and the ministry must have saved millions in that time.
"Now they say they cannot find extra buses or drivers to maintain physical distancing.
"This is simply untrue. They must not have even tried."
In Dunedin, there were about 20 buses and drivers set aside for cruise ship visits that were unused, Mr Matthews said.
"We even have double decker buses that could be used. Scores of drivers in the sightseeing and tour sector are unemployed.
"The ministry needs to put school children’s safety first and pick up the phone. They would find plenty of bus companies and drivers willing to help."
However, Ministry of Education infrastructure service head Kim Shannon said unlike public spaces, school buses and school classrooms were controlled environments.
"Ministry of Health guidelines are clear that in some environments like school classrooms or early learning centres, it’s not always practical to have physical distance restrictions in place, so observing all the necessary hygiene requirements is the key priority."
She said schools also knew which of their pupils were in the classroom and travelling on the school bus, so contact tracing could take place if required.
"We are satisfied that by prioritising and maintaining good hygiene practices in line with Ministry of Health advice and making sure that every bus is cleaned in accordance with Ministry of Transport guidelines, with all touch points cleaned after each journey (twice daily), our school transport services will be managed safely.
"We understand some families may be anxious about their children using school transport for the first time in a while and may prefer to make other arrangements, and we respect that choice.
"In the meantime, we will be working with our school transport providers to make sure the necessary hygiene requirements are being met."
Ms Shannon said hand sanitisers would be available on every vehicle for pupils to use when getting on and off.
Schools would continue to make sure they were observing all the necessary hygiene requirements once pupils arrived on site and had plenty of information for young people and parents around good health and hygiene.
The Ministry of Education offered transport services predominantly in rural areas where no public transport existed, she said.
