March Madness: Auckland Transport predicts 41% increase in motorway traffic

Heavy traffic is expected across the motorway network this month. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Auckland Transport is estimating travel times will jump 41% on motorways and 17% on arterial roads this month, the city’s busiest for the network.

The Automobile Association (AA) has crunched the numbers for the first Monday morning commute of March Madness, showing travel times did climb by several minutes, but not at the level Auckland Transport (AT) anticipated.

So how bad did it get?

A memorandum, prepared by AT group manager for public transport operations Rachel Cara, and Auckland Transport Operations Centre (AOTC) manager Claire Howard, was sent to Local Boards last month.

It said traffic grew by 17% on arterial roads and 41% on state highways during March last year, with similar increases forecast for this month.

“This will extend commute times and put pressure on bus reliability,” the memo warned.

“The impact is less pronounced in afternoon peaks as travel times are more spread out.”

The memo said that as commuters adjusted their travel times throughout the month, the increase would gradually taper off.

Data supplied to the Herald by AA for yesterday’s morning commute showed travel times were worse than normal as March Madness congestion began.

On the Northwestern Motorway, the trip from Westgate to the city centre peaked at 49 minutes at 7.40am, up from 44 minutes at the same time last Monday.

On the Northern Motorway, travel from Albany to the city reached 41 minutes at 7am, compared with 35 minutes a week earlier.

The biggest jump was on the Southern Motorway, where the drive from Papakura to the CBD peaked at 71 minutes at 7am – a significant increase on 52 minutes last Monday.

However, AA noted that the sharp increase could have been caused by a breakdown or crash.

Traffic on Auckland's Northwestern motorway climbed by 5 minutes on Monday morning. Photo / Corey Fleming

Later in the peak period, travel times on the Southern were still running five to 10 minutes longer than at the same time last week.

The Herald has sought comment from AT.

The AT memo also anticipated a 15% rise in public transport boardings during February and March.

It said increasing the tertiary discount from 20% to 40% had resulted in a 25% uplift in trips this year, and further growth was expected when universities fully return this week.

It laid out AT’s plans on how it intended to cope with the rising congestion.

Bus capacity to key routes like WX1, 12, 11T and 11W had been expanded.

“Additionally, more bus capacity has been created by adding larger buses to 37 popular bus trips, and extra buses have been added at peak times where possible.

“Four additional school bus services will be added for term one.”

AT had also engaged with schools across Auckland so they could adjust bus routes to prepare for larger school rolls.

AA policy director Martin Glynn said people had many different theories on what caused March Madness, but it had never been confirmed.

“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.”

AT is urging commuters to check 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.

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