Transport in Auckland

Private vehicles are the main form of transportation within Auckland, with around 7% of journeys in the Auckland region being undertaken by bus (2006 data), and 2% undertaken by train and ferry.Usage is however heavily skewed towards travel to and from the Central Business District, where more than half of trips are undertaken by public transport. Auckland still ranks quite low in this regard, having only 46 public transport trips per capita per year, while Wellington has almost twice this number at 91, and Sydney has 114 trips. This strong roading focus results in substantial traffic congestion during peak times.

Bus services in Auckland are mostly radial, with few ring-routes, due to Auckland being on an isthmus. Late-night services (i.e. past midnight) are limited, even on weekends.

Regular trains operating along four lines travel between the CBD and the west, south and south-east of Auckland, with longer-distance options scarce. In 2007 approximately NZ$5.3 billion worth of large-scale projects were underway or planned (and budgeted for) in the Auckland area to improve rail and public transport patronage over the next decade, 31% of the transport budget. However, policy changes in early 2009 by the incoming National government have meant a shift in emphasis to more highway construction, and have removed the provision of a regional fuel tax that was to pay for ARTA's public transport upgrades. While the government has promised to fund the rail electrification, the process and associated tenders were delayed by approximately one year, and some rail station upgrades and the funding of the integrated ticketing upgrade were in doubt. The lack of future funding also forced ARTA to hand over the Auckland region's rail stations to government control.