KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's first two-way road exclusively for buses gets its first peak-hour test today.
Buses have been testing the $295 million Northern Busway since Saturday, but this morning's run of Northern Express services to the city from the Albany and Constellation stations is the first real test of the system's ability to cut peak-hour travel times.
The buses will travel on the almost completed busway between Constellation Drive and Esmonde Rd in preparation for the opening of the entire system on February 3.
The trial will enable up to 400 bus drivers to familiarise themselves with the busway before the stations open.
It will also allow testing of the real-time electronic passenger information system, and will settle the new road surface.
Three new stations - at Sunnynook, Smales Farm and Akoranga - will not have the big park-and-ride areas provided at the Albany and Constellation stations, as transport officials want people to use feeder buses or arrive on foot or bicycle.
Only non-stop express buses will use the busway. A two-way trial to and from Auckland City is expected from around mid-January.
The Auckland Regional Transport Authority expects up to 70 buses an hour will use the lane at peak times.
