KEY POINTS:
Auckland's gleaming new $300 million busway fell victim to "teething problems" yesterday, as it proved faster to drive by car across the harbour bridge from a typical North Shore suburb.
A Herald reporter drove 15.8km from Campbells Bay in 37 minutes in the traffic peak from just before 7.30am, compared with a colleague who took half an hour longer by bus on the first business day of an ambitious network of route changes supposed to make the most of the busway as the Shore's rapid transit spine.
Although much of that journey was along suburban roads - and only about 2km of it along the new 6.2km buses-only highway - the car trip was also five minutes quicker than a hybrid journey through the Constellation "park and ride" busway station.
But the mixed journey, which took 17 minutes by car and 24 minutes by bus to central Auckland, was via a route about 3km longer than those of the car and suburban bus.
Yesterday's contest followed an experiment in December, when a reporter took 22 minutes by bus from Constellation Drive, compared with a car trip down the Northern Motorway and across the harbour bridge in exactly twice that time.
Although that was before the busway became fully operational at the weekend, Radio NZ reported making the same bus trip yesterday morning in just 25 minutes, compared with 45 minutes by car.
The Herald's three-legged race was complicated yesterday by the breakdown of another bus on the outside southbound lane of the harbour bridge, creating a logjam of over half an hour for other services joining the motorway from the busway.
Although Northern Express operator Ritchies Transport reported no problems with its vehicles along the busway, a 10-minute delay to the arrival of a rival NZ Bus service from Mairangi Bay at the start of the Herald's suburban trip was blamed on a vehicle allocation problem.
The drivers of both that bus and another NZ Bus vehicle, which the Herald took along the full length of the busway, also appeared confused about a new transferable ticket which the Auckland Regional Transport Authority introduced on Sunday to ease connections between rival companies.
But transport authority communications manager Sharon Hunter said some "teething problems" were inevitable on the first weekday of a complex new system which had performed well on most fronts.
NZ Bus customer services and marketing manager Steve Wade said the company carried thousands of customers each day but regretted the "inconvenience" caused to a minority.
He denied the company was caught short by ticketing changes, saying all its drivers received comprehensive training.
"I can assure you we'll get it right this evening and tomorrow," he said.
North Shore City spokeswoman Jade Lucas confirmed plans to extend its network of priority lanes for buses and high-occupancy vehicles feeding the busway down East Coast Rd, of which a congested 2km stretch took 14 minutes of the Herald's bus-only trip.
That compared with just six minutes along a priority lane running 1.5km down Shakespeare Rd towards the busway's Smales Farm station.
