Bus lanes given green light across Auckland

Photo / Brett Phibbs

Addition of 40km is predicted to speed up city commute on high-frequency routes.

Auckland's web of bus and high-occupancy vehicle lanes is to be expanded, after years of zero growth.

Council-controlled Auckland Transport wants to get cracking in the new year on a plan to add 15km of lanes by June 30 in the first phase of a push to improve travel times on a "frequent service network" of key bus routes.

It has budgeted $2.2 million for the initial batch, and expects to spend a further $10 million to $12 million adding an extra 25km of lanes in the following two financial years.

The first group will include extensions of existing lanes along Victoria St West, Khyber Pass Rd, Fanshawe St and the southern sector of Dominion Rd, before bus priority projects spread in the following two years to suburbs further from the city centre such as Pt Chevalier, Epsom, Pakuranga and Mangere.

That follows concern among transport campaigners that not a single metre of bus lane was built during Auckland Mayor Len Brown's first three-year term, although a short westbound section has recently been added to Fanshawe St.

The Super City inherited almost 88km of bus and "transit" lanes in 2010 from its legacy councils, but momentum was lost after howls of protest from motorists stung by tough enforcement under former Auckland City Mayor John Banks.

Auckland Transport wants to make up for lost ground to support a major reorganisation of bus services, which will begin next year in South Auckland with fewer but higher-frequency routes.

Buses will run at least every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm on its frequent service network, but it acknowledges a need to clear traffic bottlenecks, especially as city-bound commuters converge on the Auckland isthmus.

Mr Brown, who has been criticised for concentrating council spending on the $2.4 billion City Rail Link, yesterday welcomed the planned addition of 40km of bus lanes as "great news for commuters across Auckland".

"This work means more Aucklanders will have effective alternatives to their cars and will be a big step forward in keeping Auckland moving," he said.

Auckland Transport chairman Lester Levy told his board urgency was needed.

"If there is any area that has a need for speedy implementation, this is it."

Campaign for Better Transport convener Cameron Pitches said the new push was "long overdue but welcome".

Although Auckland Transport has reported a 6.5 per cent jump in bus patronage in the 12 months to October 31, to 57.3 million passenger trips, Mr Pitches said travel times needed to keep improving so numbers did not start plateauing again.