Security personnel have been hired by the council since December last year to monitor the bus hub in Great King St to discourage incidents of disorder and threatening conduct.
In March this year, services were extended to cover a targeted security presence on buses.
It appears these arrangements were not openly declared by the council until yesterday, when the council backed down from a decision to put an item called "security for Dunedin public transport" in the public-excluded part of a committee agenda.
Cr Michael Laws, a critic of council secrecy, had been perplexed by the justification offered for keeping the issue out of the public part of the agenda - commercial confidentiality.
In an email to his colleagues and chief executive Richard Saunders, Cr Laws labelled that decision "bollocks".
He noted there was no tender to be discussed, but there was an issue of antisocial behaviour and the cost of combating this in Dunedin.
"This seems a staff imperative to maintain existing security - guards and even I think travelling ‘sheriffs on buses’ - to the end of the financial year."
The Otago Daily Times asked the council about the content of the agenda item and whether its status as a public-excluded matter would be revisited.
Mr Saunders said yesterday afternoon the security issue would now be heard in public at tomorrow’s meeting, "given the public interest in this item".
The report for the meeting recommended continuation of what the council called a security trial, but about $126,000 of unbudgeted money would need to be found to extend it until the end of June next year.
Alternative options included winding up the trial this month, approving just on-bus security at a cost of about $53,000 or approving only the bus hub security component for about $73,000.
The next budget would take effect in July.
The report noted the provision of security services had resulted in a reduction of incidents.
A return to high numbers of antisocial incidents and associated reputational harm were presented as risks of withdrawing security services.
The bus hub experienced an increase in antisocial behaviour in 2021 and last year.
Its location opposite a police station and the presence of CCTV cameras had seemed to make little difference, the report said.
Such behaviour included vandalism, threats of violence and disorder between groups of passengers from different schools.
"Often, but not always, younger members of the public are reported to be causing these issues," the report said.
School children were also considered to be vulnerable.
A trial initially comprised two Allied Security staff maintaining a presence at the bus hub in peak hours.
Discussions with bus companies and concern about driver-passenger incidents and antisocial behaviour on buses led to a trial expansion, the council said.
"As per the bus hub security, [guards] provide a visible presence to deter bad behaviour and are trained at de-escalation.
"Withdrawing the on-bus service increases the potential for driver assaults, robberies and other incidents that have occurred over the past two years or more on the Dunedin network.
"Improving driver working conditions is essential to retaining drivers."
