How Tauranga’s traffic congestion is changing how locals work and travel

Tauranga’s rapid population growth has come at a considerable cost — especially for traffic congestion. In a survey comparing life in eight cities, Tauranga came out worst for congestion, with 97 per cent of local respondents saying it is a problem. Now Waka Kohahi says the city needs congestion charging to avoid “economic catastrophe and terrible wellbeing” — and the council is considering it. In a special report, the Bay of Plenty Times reveals new data that gives an insight into traffic trends on two arterial routes, what days are best to work from home and tips to avoid getting stuck in the “gridlock”.

Tauranga’s congested roads are changing the way we work, with some city workers adopting a “hybrid” work model of working once or twice a week in the office to avoid traffic jams, a business leader says.

Other commuters are leaving home earlier or finding alternative routes to avoid the city’s “gridlock”.

The comments come as traffic data suggests Monday as the most popular work-from-home day — but Fridays may be a better option for the traffic-averse.

Tauranga City Council data released to the Bay of Plenty Times shows traffic volumes from Monday to Friday on the Tauranga Harbour Bridge and 15th Avenue together represent about 85,000 vehicle trips a day.

June 26 to June 30 was a fair representative week for typical current trends, with these two routes not having easy alternatives or fluctuations due to minor roadworks.

The harbour bridge had more than 5000 fewer trips in and out of the city on Monday (52,321) than on Friday (57,574).

There were also about 2700 fewer trips on 15th Ave on Monday (27,309) compared to Friday (30,048).

‘Hybrid’ work model

Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said a lack of parking and a viable bus service for city centre office employees meant many used a hybrid work model where they might only work in the office one or two days a week.

“We have all heard the frustrations of people wanting to avoid sitting in excessive traffic for hours on the key highways of Tauriko, Te Puna, and Pāpāmoa.”

He said small businesses and sole traders were also reconsidering working from home to lower overheads as the economy cooled.

‘Taking the back roads’

Kaysi Fredericks, who created the Bay of Plenty and Waikato Accidents and Traffic Information Facebook group — which has grown to more than 60,000 members — said many people were preferring to work from home, leave earlier, or take a different route to avoid traffic.

Fredericks had been leaving home at least 45 minutes early from Welcome Bay to drop her daughter at school in Pyes Pā and get to work in the CBD on time.

“We are forever taking the back roads instead of the main ones. A lot of people are. It is a lot faster.”

Fredericks said when she lived in Pyes Pā at times it took up to two hours to get home from the city centre.

Kaysi Fredricks started a Facebook group where Tauranga's congestion is a hot topic. Photo / Alex Cairns

“It is actually easier to get home to Welcome Bay than it was to Pyes Pā. Some of my Mount friends say it is just a crawl.

“I always tell people on the Facebook page to make sure they have an empty bladder, a full tank of gas, snacks, and good sounds.”

Fredericks said in her experience Monday was the most congested and Friday was “normally a breeze”.

“Quite often on a Friday, it is a clear ride right to the underpass. But on other days it is backed up to Waitaha Rd and some days it is backed up right past the [Welcome Bay] shops.”

She believed roadworks contributed to “gridlock” and there was “a lot of road rage”, she said. “People are frustrated because of not being able to move freely with the traffic.”

Nicholas Wall drives from Bayfair to Totara St for work.

The 22-year-old said traffic on Hull Rd and Totara St was typically backed up from Monday to Thursday.

“It can take half an hour to get from one end of Hull Rd to the other.”

Wall said roadworks on Totara St and the Bayfair overpass had added to the congestion recently.

He said he had been taking different routes to work and using Google Maps to try to avoid traffic.

The 2022 Quality of Life survey found just three per cent of Tauranga respondents thought congestion was not a problem. Most said it was a “big” (77 per cent) or “bit of a” (20 per cent) problem — the highest of the eight cities surveyed.

More traffic and congestion was the top reason Tauranga people said living in the city had worsened, followed by continual roadworks. It also scored comparatively poorly for city centre parking and public transport use and perceptions.

Even so, 72 per cent agreed Tauranga was a great place to live and few were thinking of moving soon. The study’s overall Tauranga sample was 564 and margin of error 4.1 per cent.

The quietest and busiest days on the road

Tauranga City Council traffic engineer Duncan Wilson said, according to the data, Monday had a notably lower daily traffic total than other weekdays, followed by Tuesday.

Wilson said even before the Covid-19 lockdowns, Monday was the quietest day and Friday was the busiest.

Wednesday had the highest daily flow on 15th Avenue (12 per cent up on Monday) and Friday had the highest daily flow on the harbour bridge (10 per cent higher than Monday).

Wilson said peak-hour traffic — typically between 7.45am and 8.45am, and 4pm and 5pm — did not vary much by day of the week.

He said Monday peak traffic was similar to other days but the peak period was shorter and flows were “slightly lower” between the peaks.

Wilson said the data provided insight into people’s traffic habits across the week.

“The current situation in Tauranga reflects heavy congestion on our network and the amount of roadworks. People are putting off making trips,” he said.

“We don’t have any data but do speculate that more people are choosing Monday as a work-from-home day, than other days of the week. Monday is the day you are going to strike the least congestion.”

Tauranga City Council traffic engineer Duncan Wilson says he bikes to work for "obvious" reasons. Photo / Alex Cairns

Top tips to avoid the worst traffic

Wilson advised commuters to be more conscious when planning trips to avoid congestion.

“Don’t go to the supermarket in peak hours and always consider alternative transport, eg. cycling or walking for shorter trips.”

Wilson said he chose to bike to work for “obvious reasons”.

“One of the great things about cycling is while it might take a bit longer to cycle somewhere, the commuter time doesn’t vary.

“It takes me 30 minutes to bike from my place to work. It is a 20-minute drive to work that when congested could take an hour but it always takes 30 minutes on a bike.

“So it is consistency on travel, good for your health and cost-effective.”

The solutions?

Tauranga City Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said it acknowledged the community’s frustration with roadworks and traffic congestion and was working towards creating better connections, improving bus services, and making the city’s roads safer.

Bisley said there had been under-investment in the city’s roading infrastructure over the past 15 to 20 years and in that time the population had doubled.

Any “spare capacity” in the road network was used up and there were “too many vehicles trying to drive across and around the city” during peak periods, creating congestion.

“Tauranga has limited arterial roads due to the city being built on narrow peninsulas, so building more capacity is difficult and expensive.”

Tauranga City Council director of transport Brendan Bisley. Photo / George Novak

Congestion would remain as the population continued to grow, he said. The council’s planned $2 billion investment in its roading infrastructure over the next decade aimed to stop it getting worse — in addition to spending from other authorities.

“It does not remove the congestion altogether as the roading works will take more than 10 years to build.”

It was also supporting investment in alternative transport modes such as walking, cycling and bussing to further offset congestion.

Bisley said Tauranga was one of New Zealand’s most car-dependent cities.

“We realise that for a lot of people — including tradespeople and businesses — using a private vehicle is a necessity so we’re targeting the 10 to 15 per cent of the population who have a choice to walk, cycle, scooter, skateboard or catch a bus.”

This would lessen congestion for the other 85-90 per cent.

On Monday the council agreed to consult residents on road pricing — also known as congestion charging, Local Democracy Reporting reported.

A study suggested it could garner $88 million in revenue a year by 2035 and $158m by 2048 to help pay for network improvements. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Richard Hurn told the meeting not introducing it would lead to “economic catastrophe and terrible wellbeing for communities”.

Zoe Hunter is an assistant news director covering business and property news for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She also writes for NZME’s regional business publication Money and has worked for NZME since 2017.