The Automobile Association is warning Auckland motorists that traffic is already getting worse ahead of the city’s peak congestion period – March Madness.
And more parents are complaining about kids enduring packed school bus rides, or being left on the side of the road altogether, due to capacity problems – with nearly 30 such complaints logged with Auckland Transport so far this year.
Beleaguered commuters already sick of long wait times are likely to face further delays when the network’s busiest month kicks off next week.
Public transport users could also be affected, with more travellers expected to flood the network, including an additional 40,000 University of Auckland students commencing studies on Monday.
Auckland Transport group manager for public transport operations Rachel Cara said congestion levels are expected to jump by at least 6.7%.
“More people use Auckland’s transport network from February until early April than at any other time of year,” Cara said.
“With our buses, trains and ferries making 13,500 trips per day, including 500 school trips, Auckland Transport anticipates there will be over two million passenger journeys each week.”
The traffic is expected to peak between 7am and 9am, and 3pm and 6pm.
Automobile Association policy director Martin Glynn said traffic had already risen over the last week and would only get worse as tens of thousands of university students headed back next week.
“So if it’s anything like past years, we should definitely see an increase next week and into March,” Glynn said.
He said the average journey on the Southern Motorway was expected to climb by at least six minutes next week, and three minutes on the Northwestern Motorway and the Southwestern Motorway.
It was difficult to predict if traffic would be worse than in previous years, as typical indicators were inconsistent, Glynn said.
“Auckland’s population grew a little last year, I think about 1%, so that does mean more people on the roads. But the economy hasn’t been in great shape, which tends to mean less traffic, especially at peak times.
“So it’s kind of hard to say, to be really frank.”
Glynn said there were hot spots across the network that would become choked. Most of these were roads connecting to the motorways, such as Ōnewa Rd, Lincoln Rd and Greenlane East.
People had many different theories on what caused March Madness, but it had never been confirmed, Glynn said.
“There’s always a drop-off by the time the April school holidays come back, and it never climbs [back to March levels].
“Some people think it’s because at the start of the year, everyone’s used up their leave if they’re adults, everyone’s parents are sending their kids to school, students are going to uni, everyone’s got good intentions, fewer illnesses around after summer.”
Auckland Transport Operations Centre manager Claire Howard said her team would be “implementing reactive responses” during the busy period to optimise traffic flow.
“These include managing signals to clear traffic, deploying estimated journey times on digital displays and monitoring the roads with a one-network lens.
“This means that no matter where you are travelling through, arterial roads or state highways, there is a team working 24 hours to ensure that Aucklanders get to where they need to get to safely.”
Auckland Transport provided some advice for commuters to help ease the strain during March Madness, including not leaving belongings on the bus seat beside you, remembering to tag on and off, and to be patient – the next bus or train should not be too far away.
Commuters should always check the status of travel times on map apps and, if possible, carpool with family, friends or colleagues so they could travel in T2 and T3 lanes to reduce journey times and help disperse traffic.
Earlier this month, the Herald revealed that young girls were being stranded when school buses became too full.
The father of a 13-year-old Westlake Girls’ High School student said the 028 bus would leave his daughter at the Smales Farm stop regularly, with the only advice from Auckland Transport being to attempt to catch a public route, which involved three interchanges.
“[It is a] bit daunting for 13-year-old girls who are trying to navigate their way on public transport for the first time in their lives. Especially starting school, they’ve got enough going on,” the father, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
Another Westlake Girls’ parent said his daughter arrived home “distraught” last week after being crammed on to the 028.
He said his daughter told him the aisle was “completely full” as the driver continued to let kids on.
Other parents have also come forward to share similar stories of students being left behind due to packed buses, including a North Shore mother of a first-year Rosmini College student.
She said her son tried to catch the 020 or 94 from Northcote Primary every day, and most times, three buses drove past, all full. The route served seven schools.
She said she finally received a response from Auckland Transport this week, which apologised but gave no helpful alternative, only mentioning that the buses were expected to be fuller when universities begin next week.
Numbers released to the Herald under the Official Information Act showed 28 complaints were lodged with Auckland Transport since the beginning of the school year, up until February 16.
Route 064, which travels through Kingsland, Newmarket and St Lukes, received the most complaints, with four.
Route 020 received three complaints and routes 046, 046X, 028 and 421 received two each.
Thirteen other routes received one complaint each.
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