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If you think Auckland’s traffic is particularly bad now, it will only get worse next week, transport experts warn.
February 20 marked the beginning of orientation week for many Auckland universities.
But come February 27 when classes are on, many more students will be on the roads.
The annual traffic chaos, which notoriously spikes in New Zealand’s biggest city in March, likely won’t end until Easter, Greater Auckland’s Matt Lowrie said.
How bad has your commute become? Email aucklandreporters@stuff.co.nz
School holidays, long weekends for Easter and Anzac Day, and a slow return of winter bugs will take people off the crowded transport network.
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But in the meantime, commuters can expect long waits on busy roads with no easy solutions for the short term.
He also said that when the city empties over summer, those still in town get “lulled into a false sense of security” that driving in Auckland is pleasant, and we forget how congested it gets.
“This is normal,” he said.
But this year, things have been made worse with the lack of regular and reliable public transport options.
KiwiRail has closed multiple lines for urgent foundational repairs and replaced services with buses.
Auckland Transport is struggling to recruit drivers and lately has a city-wide shortage of some 378 bus drivers and 36 ferry drivers – around a fifth of the workforce.
Auckland transport has also removed 1000 public transport services a day but still cancelled between 900 and 1800 services daily between February 13 and 19.
Lowrie said cancellations and delays are undermining faith in the public transport system.
He also said a vicious circle keeps people driving – arterial routes get clogged, moving drivers onto residential roads, which in turn don’t feel safe anymore for children to walk or cycle to school, so parents drive them in instead.
“It’s important for quality of life and for safety that we focus on making local roads unattractive to commuters, keeping them for local trips and local activities,” Lowrie said.
“The reality is there is little we can do immediately.”
Ricky Wilson/Stuff
“The reality is there is little we can do immediately,” transport blogger Matt Lowrie said. (File photo)
National coordinator for the Public Transport Users Association, Jon Reeves, agreed.
He said the government should continue to subsidise half price fares, a measure introduced in 2022 and slated to finish at the end of June.
“If you bring the fares back up, we’ll have expensive fares and low quality services and those two things kill demand.”
He hopes by 2024 the driver shortage will be solved and many rail repairs will be finished, meaning more gentle form of the so-called ‘March Madness’ – but only if people take buses and trains.
“When you lose people from public transport to their private car it’s hard to get them back out of it,” Reeves said.
“I feel very sorry for everyone who has to go through this. It’s a terrible situation when you just want to get to work and home everyday.”
Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi have been approached for comment.
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