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Bus crackdown to continue in NSW

A string of defects have been uncovered on Sydney buses, including those used for school runs, as police continue their crackdown on the transport industry.

Traffic police and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) officers carried out sweeping inspections at the Busabout depot in Smeaton Grange, in southwest Sydney, on Monday.

The inspections come after a spate of serious bus crashes in Sydney this year.

"It gives us the basis to go in and have a closer look at the industry generally," Highway Patrol Inspector Phillip Brooks told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Defects were also found last month in vehicles at Busways depots in Sydney.

The inspections came after two serious crashes last month, including a Busways bus smashing into a home and a cyclist fatality in Mount Druitt.

Busabout was not linked to the crashes.

Defects were uncovered on 32 of the 88 buses in Monday's blitz.

Six of the defects were deemed major, including a bus with no active rear brake lights.

Drug and alcohol tests were carried out at the depot but no positive results were recorded.

The bus inspections have targeted private operators but police have not ruled out a closer look at the state government's State Transit fleet.

"I think they are certainly part of the broader picture and we will be looking into that as they (inspections) go along," Insp Brooks said.

Opposition leader John Robertson says the government needs to launch an audit of buses.

"Over the next two weeks of school holidays, the government needs to ensure that every school bus is inspected and parents can have confidence that, when they put their kids on a bus when school goes back, those buses are safe," he told Macquarie Radio on Tuesday.