Two thousand Wellington commuters found themselves waiting for buses that never came this morning after police ordered some off the road for failing safety checks.



A Greater Wellington Regional Council spokeswoman said all up 57 Wellington bus services did not run this morning. Some more headaches were predicted this afternoon.



The missing services were due to a shortfall of buses.



The main reason was that the Police Commercial Vehicle Inspection Unit had been checking Wellington buses and ''a few'' were pink-stickered, meaning they had to get certificates of fitness before taking passengers.



The test was much like a car warrant of fitness, she said.



The buses failed for safety reasons but many of the issues were able to be fixed immediately.



''The situation has been exacerbated by some trolley buses suffering motor damage from Monday's flooding and daytime street works around Wellington which has meant diesel buses are having to replace all trolley buses on normal trolley bus routes, again affecting overall bus supply.''



The council offered an apology to the estimated 2000 passengers affected this morning.



''[We] will be working with NZ Bus on temporary changes to timetables which could mean reduced services but will give customers some certainty about which services are actually running.''

Wellington commercial vehicle inspection unit team leader Senior Sergeant William Roy said some of the pink sticker offences were problems with interior lighting, damaged or obscured signs, and seats or grab-rails not being properly secured.



He would not say how many buses had been ordered off the road for serious issues, requiring more detailed work.



''Most issues are corrected on site prior to the bus taking business. CVIU and NZTA staff are working closely with the bus companies to ensure the driver of the day completes a similar 'walk around' check of his bus to ensure regulations are complied with.''



Council public transport general manager Wayne Hastie said services could be disrupted for some time, until the issues had been addressed.



"We sincerely apologise for the frustration customers are experiencing ... we have met with NZ Bus today to understand the issues and will continue to work with them on solutions for the immediate future. We'll let people know what's happening as soon as we can."



NZ Bus chief operating officer for Wellington Rachel Drew said the company was working through a plan, which has been agreed with the NZ Transport Agency and police to rectify the issues.