Auckland traffic: Here’s why your commute is taking longer than normal

Every morning in Auckland recently it’s felt like a chore to get around. Daily, Google Maps reports journeys have “heavier traffic than usual”.

Meanwhile, the last holidaymakers are back in town, students have returned to schools after an interrupted start to term one, and tertiary courses begin in a matter of weeks leading to what some call ‘March Madness’ – the first of its kind since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

AA Policy Director Martin Glynn said it’s “always bad this time of year” – when school and university begins, people start to feel the roads heaving.

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And this year there are fewer buses available, which could be resulting in more people using their cars for their commute instead.

There’s a nationwide bus driver shortage, and Auckland Transport had felt the problem most acutely, Glynn said.

“They’re starting to recruit, and the government has opened the immigration taps but the reality for people trying to use public transport is buses often don’t turn up,” Glynn said.

From Monday, AT amended bus schedules to “reduce services at peak due to lower demand”.

The changes were needed to “temporarily remove some trips to make better use of available drivers”, AT said on its website.

Even more reductions are slated for March 19 for six routes across central and east Auckland, with some services having more services, not fewer.

Meanwhile, KiwiRail was undergoing major work on the Southern, Eastern and Western lines, driving yet more people into their cars, Glynn said.

He said he wanted a bigger focus on getting Auckland a public transport system that “can take people where they need to go”.

“Most people are suffering the congestion, it eats into their time,” he said.

Auckland Transport reports there are 62 roads affected by the flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle. Half are fully closed, particularly in North Auckland and West Auckland.

Multiple school bus routes were affected by the flooding, with several bus stops closed.

Glynn said he didn’t think these roads would be the primary reason for the congestion, but they would certainly be adding to it.

An Auckland Transport spokesperson said the city was getting back to “pre-Covid traffic volumes”.

“With schools back now, and some road closures still ongoing after the floods – there were certainly high levels of traffic today. Buses are also very busy across the network.”

So if you can’t get around on public transport, you might be trying rideshare apps like Uber. But logging a ride request is no guarantee of getting picked up, with customers reporting multiple cancellations and long waits.

Drivers who spoke to Stuff on condition of anonymity for fear of Uber cancelling their accounts said when traffic got this bad, driving stops paying off.

Unlike taxi meters, Uber charges don’t go up the longer you sit in traffic. So if it’s a five-minute journey on a normal day that takes 20 minutes in traffic, you’re getting paid the same as if it was a short trip.

What’s more, Uber drivers are drip fed information, First Union Strategic Project Co-ordinator Anita Rosentreter explains.

First they’re offered a job, then a pickup location when they accept. Only once they’ve arrived and pick up the customer do they find out where they’re going.

So they have to make an educated guess, and lately they’ve had no choice but to cancel with traffic congestion all over the city.

“People think there is an algorithm that finds the driver closest to you, but it’s not true,” she said.

The drivers Stuff spoke to had cancellation rates rocketing from 10% last week to 35% this week.

They don’t make money sitting in traffic – but if they cancel too many jobs, Uber will cancel them, a driver said.

Uber has been approached for comment.