In the first week of March this year, the council recorded 1,510,882 vehicles on average at those intersections. In the last week of June, it recorded 1,445,626 vehicles, a drop of 65,256 vehicles, which equalled a 4 per cent reduction.
The figures also reveal the city has, on average, experienced an increase in traffic volume of 22 per cent since 2016.
Tauranga City Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said the figures reinforced the need to work towards multi-modal, or alternative transport, options.
"The arterial routes are now often running at capacity in the peak hours so the whole system is very sensitive to any increase in vehicle numbers. A single lane can move a maximum of approximately 1000 vehicles per hour if there are no delays in the traffic flow," he said.
"Once traffic is above that volume, queues form and get longer as people try to bring more vehicles onto the same road at the same time. Most commuter trips in Tauranga are made with one person per vehicle.
"The city had a temporary reprieve from congestion over the lockdown but traffic volumes have returned to similar to the pre-Covid volumes. We need to keep working towards multi-modal solutions as the city grows."
At a Bay of Plenty Regional Council meeting this week, Western Bay of
Plenty Transport System Plan programme director Neil Mason also referred to the influence of lockdown on the city's traffic levels.
"It's fair to say there has been no impact on congestion with people working from home. We need to be really particular that for some of us, it just doesn't work," he said.
"There may be more people working from home on Mondays or Fridays but there will still be more vehicles."