Bus lanes eyed to keep freight trucks moving

By WAYNE THOMPSON

The idea of bus lanes being used by trucks will be investigated by the Auckland Regional Council as a way to speed up freight deliveries on choked arterial roads.

Councillor Paul Walbran suggested at an ARC meeting yesterday that a year of focusing on passenger transport problems had overshadowed the equally important need to keep freight vehicles moving.

"Delays to freight vehicles add significantly to the cost of goods that we buy and export and affects our ability to compete overseas," he said.

"Losing an hour or two a day stuck in traffic drains 20 per cent off freight company productivity or worse.

"That cost has to be met and it affects the economic wellbeing of the region's people."

Councillors supported his call for faster progress on preparing a regional freight strategy and an investigation into bus lanes being used by various classes of freight vehicles.

Mr Walbran said the council could link bus lane use to its campaign to clean up emissions of poisonous fumes from diesel vehicles. It could help truckies offset the cost of meeting higher emission standards by rewarding them with bus lane permits.

National Road Carriers executive officer James Smith said the idea had merit for dedicated busways on arterial roads, such as the North Shore Busway and the Harbour Bridge.

But it would not help traffic flow on busy roads such as Dominion Rd, where buses blocked the lane at bus stops, or roads where buses had to merge when the lane petered out.

He was against adding trucks to bus lanes that were also shared by cyclists.

Mr Smith said the best solution to improve the flow of freight in traffic was to quickly complete the arterial road network.