Celebrating the people behind the wheel

Throughout 2025, our driver community has continued to demonstrate resilience and care. While the year has brought challenges, it is the everyday actions, the small moments of connection between drivers and passengers, that have made the greatest impact. 

In October, we launched Thanks Driver, a platform designed to champion positive behaviour, share stories from our drivers, and highlight the small acts of kindness that strengthen relationships on board. From a simple “thank you” to a smile or a friendly greeting, these gestures help make journeys safer, more enjoyable, and more connected for everyone.

While conversations often focus on anti-social behaviour. Thanks Driver shifts the spotlight to the positive. Research shows that small acts of gratitude and recognition can improve wellbeing for both drivers and passengers, strengthen social cohesion, and help de-escalate tension on board. Drivers have shared that even light-touch positive interactions, such as a smile, a greeting, or a “thank you,” make a noticeable difference to their day.

We chose Tauranga as the filming location for the original Thanks Driver content series in response to staff feedback in our annual engagement survey. Our local team brought the stories to life, and the region’s diverse and passionate driving team made it the perfect place to spotlight authentic experiences, reflecting the scale and diversity of public transport in New Zealand. I'm grateful to my colleagues across Operations, Training, and Health & Safety, as well as our creative partners at These Guys I Know, who helped shape the initial idea into a campaign that truly captures the authenticity and humanity of our drivers’ stories. One of the highlights was having George, our Service Delivery Manager in Tauranga, share the story on national television during a Seven Sharp segment, helping bring the campaign and our drivers’ voices to a wider audience.

Since its launch, Thanks Driver has reached hundreds of thousands online, providing an ongoing platform for Kinetic to engage authentically with our driver community. In the first 40 days, the content achieved 760,000+ social views across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, with 5,900+ likes, comments, and shares. On YouTube alone, it generated 175,000 views and more than 2,000 hours of watch time, while 3,200 visitors went directly to the Thanks Driver website in just over 6 weeks. 

Beyond the original campaign, the platform has supported initiatives such as Bus Driver Appreciation Week and Auckland Transport’s Christmas Joy Rides, bringing real stories of our drivers to the communities they serve and celebrating the people behind the wheel. 

During Bus Driver Appreciation Week, our Thanks Driver team and content creator and bus influencer Robert Richards (@lethimdrive) rode buses across Tāmaki Makaurau, supporting an Auckland Transport initiative that displayed drivers’ names on digital billboards as they passed. The reactions: surprise, pride and joy, were captured on film demonstrate exactly why little gestures like this matter.

Thanks Driver is more than a campaign. It has evolved into a platform for storytelling, research-informed behaviour change, and community connection, reinforcing the culture we aim to nurture at Kinetic: one that values, supports, and celebrates our people.

Thank you, Drivers. Your dedication, resilience, and care inspire us every day.