Auckland Council's budget committee has voted 16-7 for a proposal to increase rates by 3.5 per cent for each year of a new 10-year budget.

It's going to be a grim weekend for Auckland drivers - construction on two busy sections of the city's motorway is expected to cause chaos.

The number of fines issued by Auckland parking wardens for unsafe tyres has almost doubled in three years, but some councillors say the practice is 'over the top'.

Concern about drivers speeding and "rat running" to avoid congestion on main roads has prompted the Albert-Eden Local Board to take traffic-calming measures.

Main work on the $2.4 billion city rail link will be pushed out to 2020 unless the Government comes on board with early funding, say officials.

With half an eye on their re-election prospects, some Auckland councillors are having second thoughts about an early start to the City Rail Link.

The line of passengers taking pictures of the plane they'd just stepped off at Auckland Airport this week was proof that big aircraft make a big impression.

What a shame Mayor Len Brown doesn't surrender to his inner revolutionary when it comes to Auckland's transport woes.

A mission to Mars will be mankind's next giant leap. But one expert has suggested it might be simpler to get to the red planet in a series of smaller jumps - using asteroids as stepping stones.

Departing KiwiRail chief executive Jim Quinn received an $80,000 pay bump during a year his company lost almost a quarter of a billion dollars.

Budget travellers will soon have three major long-distance bus operators to choose from, offering fares from as little as $1 each way between Auckland and Wellington.

Competition has increased in the long-distance bus market with the launch today of a new city-to-city express service, ManaBus.com.

Motorway tolls. Or higher rates and petrol prices. Those are the options being presented to Aucklanders as a silver bullet to fix the city's traffic woes.

We are beginning the most important funding debate Auckland will face in our lifetime: What are we as Aucklanders prepared to do to get this city moving?

The Transport Minister, Simon Bridges, may not be as loud and brash in his pronouncements as his predecessors but the message yesterday remained the same.

Prime Minister John Key's new Government will soon have new ministerial limousines to replace the existing fleet of 34 BMWs, after just three years.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown has released details of a plan this morning for a $2 toll to enter the city's motorways.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown has released a plan this morning for a $2 toll to enter the city's motorways. Is this a good idea? Send us Your Views.

Aucklanders could pay a motorway toll of about $2 under a congestion-busting plan being unveiled by Mayor Len Brown today.

A GO Wellington bus driver who defied "common sense" when he abandoned his bus with the engine running and passengers on board will not get his job back.

Warkworth's village character and market town charm is being put at risk by a big retail development aimed at luring motorists on SH1, say residents.

The diamond shape before a pedestrian crossing is there to warn motorists that they are approaching a crossing and also for pedestrians who must not step off the kerb on to the crossing if a vehicle has passed over the diamond.

A new company will ferry passengers to Waiheke, Rangitoto and Motutapu Islands from today.

One person has died after a a car and truck collided north of Auckland. It is the first road death of the long weekend.