Cars on Auckland's roads during rush-hour drops

Traffic congestion on the Auckland Harbour Bridge / NZH

Each week there are 33,570 fewer cars on the roads during the morning rush hour thanks to carpooling, public transport and extra walking and cycling options.

Auckland Transport says that number equates to a line of cars stretched bumper-to-bumper from the CBD to Hamilton.

The agency has been engaging people and organisations around the region through its Let's Carpool programme.

Rita Hari told the initiative's annual evaluation that she carpools every day because it's a faster, easier way to get to work.

"I have been carpooling for the past two or three years. the person i carpool with lives near me. the big thing is it saves time. Plus, it's a good way to get to know your neighbours."

Her colleague at the Workwear Group, Rupa Acharya also carpools, and said if everyone chipped in it also makes it a more affordable option.

"It's not cheap to run a car, and I don't drive so this is the best way for me to get to work."

Auckland Transport's demand manager Melanie Alexander said they set a goal of lowering the number of single occupancy vehicles on the roads by 6,000 per day and this year's results showed they had just surpassed with a reduction of 6,714 cars a day.

This decrease equates to an annual reduction of 1.64 million trips and a total distance of 17.2 million km travelled, enough to go around the earth more than 420 times, Alexander said.

It also means a 5582 tonne reduction in CO2 emissions.

Alexander said the Let's Carpool programme was a way for organisations and individuals to find other people in Auckland making a similar commute and connects them to share the ride.