KEY POINTS:
A Herald travel column about the nightmarish business of getting to Auckland International Airport has sparked a flurry of activity. But does it mean we can look forward to improvements? Maybe. A little.
Steve Wrenn, a policy analyst at Manukau City, sent an email advising that there is a new half-hourly bus service from Manukau City Centre to the airport via Papatoetoe Rail Station and the airport's eastern access road (ie State Highway 20B). That sounds hopeful for those living in the south of the region; but what about those in the north and west of Auckland and beyond?
Wrenn suggested contacting the Auckland Regional Transport Authority which, he said, would be able to advise on improvements to the Airbus service airbus.co.nz from Downtown Auckland, making it more direct, and running more often.
He also said Airbus services would be listed on the MAXX website and journey planner. Wrenn suggested I contact the Auckland Regional Transport Authority to get details about the improved Airbus service.
I did, thinking maybe I could try it out at the start of a trip I was making that night, but by departure time I still hadn't heard back. So I went by taxi.
Readers emailed us, describing their slow - and expensive - journeys to the aiport.
Patrick O'Rourke of Sunnynook, had been "caught in a traffic coming from the airport and when the meter had racked up $100 and I was only in Onehunga, I ditched the taxi".
Garth Vipond of Manukau, books into the new Ventura Inn and Suites, which is close to the airport.
"For $109 you get a room with breakfast, shuttle to and from the airport and free parking for the first 14 days ... $5 per day after that."
Mary Harris of Devonport coincides her car service with trips away.
"Manukau Toyota drops us at the airport, services the car, and then takes it to Skyway until our return."
And Donna Dierick, of Waiheke, suggests that a direct (and affordable) rail link from Auckland's CBD to the airport would solve a lot of transport headaches.
