City job means slow shuffle to work

By WARREN GAMBLE

North Shore born and bred, Margaret Stephens took the commuting plunge to a city job 10 years ago and has been caught in the ever-slower Northern Motorway shuffle since.

The Automobile Association's emergency breakdown district manager faces a 26km journey from her Murrays Bay home to her Penrose workplace, taking an average of almost two hours out of her day.

By far the worst part of the daily grind is the start, the nose-to-tail 8km stretch from the Constellation Drive on-ramp to the Onewa Rd overbridge, which takes about half-an-hour.

The car radio, the occasional phone-call on her hands-free set, and jotting down work ideas when the car comes to a complete halt help fill in the time. A traffic jam immunity develops.

"You train yourself not to think about it too much because otherwise you just get frustrated - you have to endure it," she said.

"But it really is such a waste of time, there's not a lot you can do."

Margaret Stephens has a direct interest in the congestion and its fallout; her AA job oversees the contract for clearing city motorways of chaos-causing breakdowns - often just a matter of engines overheating in the crawl.

Earlier this year, she had to dial her own service when she became a victim of the other congestion pitfall - the nose-to-tail accident. In her case it was the result of another common peril, drivers distracted by a breakdown on the motorway shoulder slowing to look, and starting off again without checking how far away the car in front is.

Public transport is not really an option for Margaret Stephens, who needs the company car in her job, but a two-bus trip to Penrose would take longer, be less direct and far less convenient.

She is thankful she drives a late-model automatic, as manual gear changes would "leave you with a worn-out clutch and one muscly leg."

Despite the delays, she has not considered moving from the Shore: "When you come home to the beaches and the sea, it's worth more than a few traffic jams for me."

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