Auckland's Onewa Rd T3 lane to get 68 new cameras to catch drivers breaking rules

Saturday, 27 March 2021

Onewa Rd on Auckland's North Shore will be slapped with 68 new cameras to monitor its controversial T3 lane.

A busy Auckland road’s controversial transit lane is set to get 68 cameras to better enforce the rules and combat abuse against Auckland Transport staff.

North Shore motorists often find themselves crawling along Onewa Rd, the main route connecting Birkenhead, Beach Haven, Glenfield and Northcote residents to the northern motorway (SH1).

The 2.3 kilometre road has 17 transit zones – nine towards the city and eight towards Birkenhead - which can only be used by cars with three or more passengers between 6.30am and 9am, and 4pm-6pm, Monday to Friday.

The current enforcement method involves Auckland Transport staff standing on the side of the road with a camera, however a spokesman said that put them at risk of being abused by angry motorists.

On-site monitoring of the T3 lane put staff at risk of abuse by upset members of the public. (File photo)

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It also meant they would have to stand for long periods of time, occasionally during bad weather, but AT said the new cameras would prevent that.

Any cars with less than three occupants will be snapped and pinged with a $150 fine.

The new cameras will allow for more consistent monitoring of the lanes, the spokesman added.

Each of the 17 transit zones will have one remote monitoring unit, each containing four cameras.

A 'scene camera' will capture whether a motorist has travelled through the entire transit zone, and will include the transit lane sign for evidence of any rule-breaking.

Another camera, which in some cases may be perched on a street light on the opposite side of the road, will monitor the transit lane sign, should the scene camera not be able to.

Two more cameras will look through the side of the vehicle to see how many people are inside the car, while a camera facing the car as it approaches the unit will record number plate details and confirm passengers sitting in the front seats.

In 2018, Auckland Transport figures found that those who used the transit lanes were able to travel along the road more than four times faster than those people not in a bus or carpooling.