New specialist traffic officers will be used to issue speeding tickets, freeing police to concentrate on fighting crime.

"The number of women [caught] was just amazing. Years ago, it was just men who were dumb enough to drink drive," a road policing manager says.

Auckland could gain a new $3 billion-plus Waitemata Harbour crossing within 15 years if Steven Joyce's programme is followed.

One reason the North Shore City Council is looking at charging parking fees at its busway stations is a big rise in the rates it charges itself.