Bus passengers look forward to travel in fast lane

Commuters catching buses to and from Auckland along the Northwestern Motorway can expect several minutes off their trips from this morning, courtesy of new bus lanes.

Transit New Zealand, which opened the 1.3km lanes on Friday on both sides of the motorway between its Rosebank and Waterview interchanges, says bus drivers estimate they will shorten peak-time trips by three or four minutes.

Built for about $500,000 each, they are part of a patchwork of lanes the agency is planning along the motorway to take pressure off traffic congestion by encouraging more people to catch buses.

The motorway now has almost 4km of bus lanes along its city-bound carriageway, and the new lane on the other side is the first of several proposed for westerly travel.

Transit's northern capital projects manager, Peter Spies, said the work was part of a strategy of increasing bus priority travel through the Auckland motorway network.

"Western suburb commuters will really feel the benefit as the lanes allow buses to bypass slow-moving traffic during peak hours and provide fast, efficient public transport options."