By JASON COLLIE transport reporter
Parking wardens are set to show zero tolerance to get the North Shore's buses moving through the traffic.
Wardens will be told to stop warning and start ticketing motorists parked in bus stops under a Buses First policy being worked on by the North Shore City Council.
The policy, which follows Auckland City's scheme, will dovetail into the council's Project FAB (Ferries and Buses) scheme and its plans to increase the number of bus lanes around the Shore to feed the rapid-transit busway alongside the motorway.
Transport planner Alison Dunatov said parked vehicles hindered the council's moves to speed up and make buses more reliable.
"We need to make sure we help these buses through our city," she said.
North Shore Mayor George Wood has been lobbying for months for either greater enforcement of bus lanes by police or a change, possibly with council staff taking over responsibility.
The Project FAB action plan is expected to be formally adopted by the council later this month.
It includes pressing for more bus and ferry services and routes, as well as upgrades of bus stops, timetables and the main bus stop area in Takapuna.
The public will get to see the final action plan at a meeting in the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna tonight.
The council plans to spend $360,000 in the next financial year on Project FAB, subject to approval under the annual plan process next week.
The push for more bus lanes on the Shore is also continuing, with the council's works and environment committee asking for reports from consultants Traffic Design Group on proposals for many of the main feeder roads.
Traffic Design Group director Wayne McDonald told councillors at a meeting on Tuesday: "There are many bus priority opportunities and most are relatively low-cost. Action now would send positive signals for the busway."
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Look out cars, buses No 1 on Shore
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