If you happen to get on a Howick & Eastern bus today you might get a free ride. About 100 bus drivers are taking industrial action on overtime and weekend rates.

Some Auckland bus drivers are refusing to handle cash for more than a week from tomorrow as they continue their bitter industrial dispute.

Fares on Auckland's public transport services are going up today.

Changes at end of month will make charges fairer leading into simpler zone system, says Auckland Transport.

KiwiRail has told Auckland Council the city's existing rail network needs costly upgrades - some described as urgent four months ago.

ROLLING COVERAGE: Everything you need to know as Auckland hit by 24-hour bus strike.

Auckland has survived the first hurdle of today's bus strike, but people were angry when police stopped motorists using bus lanes.

Uber is telling users to brace themselves for surge-pricing tomorrow morning as demand soars from commuters stranded by cancelled buses.

The Queen St exotic trees look stunning. Sadly the 47 nikau palms, which cost $454,000, look half-dead.

Auckland is expected to descend into chaos on Friday as drivers on 70 per cent of the city's bus services strike.

Auckland has been ranked 20th in a survey of cities on the move by global commercial real estate firm JLL.

Key's City Rail Link "dance of the seven veils" almost breached the R18 barrier when he performed at the recent Auckland Chamber of Commerce breakfast, writes Brian Rudman.

A bus strike will cause disruptions to several bus services in Auckland between 9am and 2.30pm tomorrow.

Tolls are not the answer to fund big transport projects in Auckland like the $2.5 billion city rail link, says mayoral candidate Mark Thomas and the Taxpayers' Union.

If only the fast lane of this stupid motorway was simply removed and replaced with a train that had wifi? I could have got useful work done and arrived far quicker, writes Sam Judd.

Mayor Brown right on the money with rail call but Govt let concerns over his leadership poison its decision-making.

John Key's intention to fast-track the $1.25 billion East-West Connection and make it a project of national significance has been welcomed by transport and infrastructure groups.

Prime Minister John Key delivers his eighth state of the nation speech as Prime Minister. Read his full speech.

John Key outlines plan to make an early start on the main works of Auckland's $2.5b city rail link. But Andrew Little says the commitment should have come long ago.

Britomart station will hit train handling capacity this year. It can handle only 20 trains an hour, writes Len Brown. The City Rail Link allows us to increase this to 48 trains an hour.

Dominion Rd's business community says it would welcome visitors passing through its colourful precinct on trams from the airport to downtown Auckland.

Auckland pensioners fear losing free public transport in afternoon travel peaks under a review of concessionary fares next year.

Auckland commuters may face a rocky New Year after drivers for the city's bus fleet fired an opening salvo in a dispute over pay and working hours.

Transdev Australasia, in association with Hyundai Rotem is the preferred operator for next year.

Aucklanders will need to use the Hop card to access SuperGold card travel from July 1 next year at a one off cost of $20

Unions intend balloting Auckland bus drivers about taking strike action unless their employer allows a city-wide stopwork meeting for drivers to discuss a new employment agreement.

Unions representing almost 1000 Auckland bus drivers intend to press ahead with a stop-work meeting just before Christmas.

For a city striving to be "world class", forcing the inter-city rail service out of Britomart to a jerry-built shipping container "kiosk", 1.4km away in the old shunting yards, is bizarre, writes Brian Rudman.