Opinion: Meaningful change needed for Tauranga traffic problems

Where a new bus lane could be introduced. Image/Google Maps

Good morning Tauranga, and welcome to another day of sitting in your car.

I hope you're tuned into a good radio station because you're in for a long ride.

Each week, I'm spending a minimum of three hours and forty minutes driving to and from work to my Welcome Bay home.

It would be much more than that if I didn't do two late shifts a week and miss rush hour on those days.

When I first heard of plans for a bus lane in Welcome Bay, I was stoked.

Help the buses and you help the traffic flow.

Then I discovered the lane would be just over 500m long between James Cook Dr and Meadowviews Dr.

That stretch of road is where traffic moves fastest in the mornings - anyone who travels along urban Welcome Bay Rd between 7am and 9am could tell you that.

I'm glad the council is listening to our frustration and trying to come up something to help, but I don't think bus lanes in that particular location will do much - for us or the buses.

What concerns me is that if this potential change is implemented and doesn't result in higher bus patronage, will the council then give it up as a lost cause?

Or, just as bad, will we be stuck with a patchwork system of small fixes and keep chipping away at the edges of a much larger problem?

Hopefully this new Transport Centre of Excellence, despite its rather silly name (what on Earth is a centre of excellence when it's at home?), will be able to affect more meaningful change.

''It is important to keep a clear and strong focus on things roading ... that is what the community is demanding," Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport chairman Stuart Crosby said.

Too right we are.