Another important component of the blueprint to shift more people into buses was already under way - reviewing city council carpark supply and pricing policies.
Cameron Rd was the main focus for the bus priority improvements, swallowing $2.5m of construction costs.
The report, written by strategic and policy planner Mathew Stewart, said endorsing the blueprint did not commit the council to funding infrastructure improvements. However, there would be a "strong expectation" from the project partners that the council would fund the projects if the investigations confirmed they would deliver the desired outcomes.
Cameron Rd currently ran 16 buses an hour, or an average of one bus every eight minutes, with 3900 passenger trips a day.
"It is proposed to increase that to 26 buses per hour by 2018 - an average of about one bus every five minutes."
Because of this increase, Mr Stewart said the blueprint partners wanted to investigate measures like giving buses priority at lights, queue-jump lanes, shared lanes, and clearways for buses.
After the meeting, councillor Larry Baldock said the council should not lose sight of the fact that buses ran on roads and it was roads that needed the greatest investment to reduce congestion.
The big roading issues facing Tauranga were Hewletts Rd, the Elizabeth St/Takitimu Drive intersection, grade separation at Barkes Corner and four-laning SH29 including the Maungatapu Bridge.
He did not include Turret Rd/15th Ave because a medium-term solution was being investigated that could alleviate rush-hour problems.
"Hewletts Rd is congested all day. Traffic to the port is the major contributor to congestion.''
Widening SH29 would see more Papamoa traffic turning left at Baypark and fewer taking the Hewletts Rd/Takitimu Drive route to and from work, Mr Baldock said.
Retired Mount Maunganui engineer Max Lewis wanted the councils to send a delegation to Europe to research driverless transport vehicles for mass transport.
"This technology is bounding ahead and before council commit to spending $3.5m...they owe it to citizens to be fully informed on this rapidly developing transport technology.''
Costs per kilometre for driverless transport vehicles were a fraction of a bus fleet, and they could operate 24/7, he said
"Their smaller footprint means they can venture further into suburbs, increasing commuter convenience and patronage."
Tauranga Public Transport Blueprint proposals*
Cameron Rd bus priority: Construction 2019-20 ($5m)
Tauriko bus interchange: Construction 2018 ($250,000)
Polytechnic interchange: Construction 2019 ($250,000)
Hairini interchange: Construction 2019 ($350,000)
Greerton interchange: Construction 2022 ($350,000)
Bayfair interchange: Construction 2023 ($250,000)
Improving bus stops: Construction 2024-26 ($1.5m)
*TCC share about half except $370,000 for bus stop improvements