KEY POINTS:
The prospect of airport shuttle vans sharing the Northern Busway with their larger cousins has struck several obstacles.
North Shore City Council wants bylaws changed to give the vans access to the $290 million busway. It believes this will cut the trip time to the Auckland International Airport during peak traffic times.
However, concerns about the move have come from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (Arta), the NZ Transport Agency and the council's lawyers.
Busway station team leader Anthony Blom said 88 buses an hour used it in the morning peak.
A key issue was risk to passengers walking on the narrow 6km busway if a vehicle broke down.
The busway also had a capacity limit at its southern end. The point where the busway will merge back into traffic - between the Onewa Rd on-ramp and the Harbour Bridge - could handle no more than 400 busway vehicles an hour in the morning peak.
This number could be reached within eight years, if high-occupancy vehicles from Onewa Rd joined the buses as planned.
A legal opinion doubted a bylaw could limit the number of shuttles authorised to use the busway.
"There's nothing like a dose of red tape to kill a good idea," commented councillor Tony Holman. He urged that work continue to resolve the problems.
Mr Blom said Arta had tried to respond to the council's concerns by putting on a high-frequency direct Airbus service from Britomart to the airport. Connections could be made with this service by using the Northern Express buses on the busway.
