The intersection at Cameron Rd and 15th Ave in Tauranga. Photo / Andrew Warner
The intersection at Cameron Rd and 15th Ave in Tauranga. Photo / Andrew Warner
Omicron has taken thousands of drivers off the region's roads as one taxi driver says "it's a lot easier to get around".
But one moving company says traffic is still "hideous" and it was taking longer to get to places.
Tauranga City Council data showed the number of cars perday driving through Tauranga's three busiest intersections on February 21 and March 7. The number of cars was lower in March at all of them.
The Hewletts Rd and Totara St intersection recorded the biggest drop of 2813 cars.
Meanwhile, the Cameron Rd and 15th Ave intersection recorded 1429 fewer cars in March and the Barkes Corner and State Highway 29A intersection recorded a drop of 781 cars.
The council said the data showed there was a correlation between Covid restrictions and lower traffic flows, which was most likely linked with people isolating and staying or working from home.
Data showed traffic volumes had dropped around 10 per cent from mid-February to March.
Tauranga City Council data shows showed traffic volumes have dropped about 10 per cent at Tauranga's busiest intersections between mid-February and March. Photo / Andrew Warner
A taxi driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said traffic had been flowing easier this month and there was less congestion.
"Back in February it was continuously all day ... now there's a little bit of relief up on Cameron Rd and certain areas around the Mount."
When people ordered taxis, drivers were given around 20 or 25 minutes to pick people up, but now the wait could be as short as 10 minutes, the driver said.
The driver said Covid was the main reason why the roads were quieter as well as fewer people working.
But Mount Movers co-owner Carole Wood said traffic was "hideous".
Wood lived in Oropi and said it took up to an hour to get to Pāpāmoa each day.
"It's just absolutely awful - the traffic is abysmal.
"With the terrible price of fuel, it certainly affects us time management wise but we've just got to do what [we've] got to do - everybody's suffering.
"I think it's busier because we're on the road every day just about ... and we're finding it's taking longer and longer to get to places because of the traffic.
"The only time the traffic is good is when it's school holidays."
Pack and Send Tauranga City owner Kent Potter said it had "generally" been quieter on the roads.
In his view, this was because people were staying at home because they had Covid, were isolating, felt afraid to go out or were working from home.
Toi Te Ora Public Health medical officer of health Dr Jim Miller said there were 25,000 people confirmed with Covid across the Bay of Plenty and Lakes District Health Board regions and they would be self-isolating.
Each person may have a number of household contacts also isolating, he said.
Marine Parade in Mount Maunganui during alert level 3 last year. Photo / George Novak
The data also showed traffic volumes last year when New Zealand went into alert level 4 on August 17 after a positive Covid case was detected in the community.
At this time, data showed traffic in Tauranga was less than 30 per cent of normal traffic volume.
On August 31, the Bay of Plenty moved to alert level 3 and on September 7 moved to alert level 2.
In September, traffic volumes began to rise again. At the start of the month, it was more than 60 per cent of normal traffic volume and by mid-September, it was above 90 per cent.
