How to navigate your way through 'March Madness'

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

For Aucklanders, a stress-free commute can be a fine art.

It's called 'March Madness' for a very good reason.

Schools are back. University is back. Workers have no holiday or sick leave to take advantage of.

A crash on the Auckland Harbour Bridge brings traffic to a grinding halt.

And the result is commuter chaos on Auckland's roads.

Wednesday morning saw mayhem on the roads with commuters reporting long delays as they tried to make their way into the city.

North Shore-bound traffic crawling on the Upper Harbour motorway.

Matt Lowrie, editor of New Zealand's Transport Blog, suggests it could be a perfect time for commuters to give public transport a chance.

Having a HOP card was a good place to start as it made getting on and off, and shifting between means of transport, easier and cheaper, he said.

'There is an urban myth in Auckland that public transport is completely terrible. In some cases that is true. But in a lot of cases it's working really well. People just need to give it a go.

'For example the Northern Express on the northern busway is fantastic. The rail lines are working really well now with electrification. The biggest problem with them is they're so popular, they're really busy.

'They are actually moving people well and you can avoid congestion because they've got their own veins or right-of-ways.'

Travelling outside peak hours was also a good idea, but not always possible.

Lowrie said March was always challenging but this year Auckland Transport had been more proactive about easing the madness.

'In the past they've always been too late in doing so, they've always done it after March when they've missed the opportunity.

'But this year they've put on a whole lot more beforehand which is really positive.

'The challenge to Auckland Transport is how they make it easy for people to give it a go.

'I think there's a lot they could do to make it easier for people to get the cards and understand the system.'

Brendon Main, group manager of Auckland Transport's metro operations, said there would be increased capacity across buses, ferries and trains.

'We will have more than 6500 extra spaces on buses and trains, this will go a long way towards meeting demand.'

Double-decker buses would also help ease the pain on routes between Beach Haven, Glenfield and the central city.

Main said public transport would be busy but those involved would keep a close eye on the situation.

'You might not always get on the first service but we want to ensure wait times are acceptable and, on some routes, better than last year,' he said.

An unscientific survey of Auckland commuters on Facebook revealed how some navigate Auckland traffic:

'You just have to plan exactly what you are doing each day and make choices around it. No longer do you just jump in the car to go somewhere.'

'I often think motorcycles would be much quicker. Until you die. Or it rains and you get wet.'

'I often consider train but that's a consistent 1hr 20mins probably by time I get from home to train then train, then walk from Britomart. That's cheaper too, but I'm time poor also. Plus I have security issues with leaving my car at Manurewa or Homai.'

'[We] moved away from the Southern Motorway and closer to a ferry and [my] husband's work.'

'I work from home and wouldn't be able to live in Auckland if I had it any other way. Is just too hard.'

'[I] moved jobs to south Auckland and now I go against the traffic.'

'I used to use [the ferry] all the time when I worked [in town] but even that is now oversubscribed. If you don't get there very early for key times, you don't get on.'

'Move to the city and go against the traffic. [It's] quicker for us to get to our factory in Papakura from St Heliers, than most people can do it from Karaka.'