Rapid transit is fast, frequent and reliable public transport that carries large numbers of people on dedicated corridors separated from other traffic. This means it is unaffected by general traffic congestion – like the Northern Busway on the Northern Motorway (SH1). Rapid transit can come in a variety of modes including rail, bus and ferry.
We are investigating what the best rapid transit option is for the northwest, which could be:
- bus rapid transit, or
- rail
Improving how we live
Great cities have great public transport, and Aucklanders deserve to have better transport choices.
Rapid transit along SH16 will:
- provide more transport choices
- make it easier to move around the northwest of Auckland and beyond
- provide for quicker and more reliable journeys
- improve safety through this corridor
- support residential and commercial growth – providing public transport infrastructure ahead of further growth so that development can be targeted to areas where rapid transit is already in place.
A better-connected Auckland
Auckland needs to upgrade its rapid transit network over the coming decades to support and shape the region’s growth whilst increasing transport options and managing congestion.
This project will provide connections to the growing rapid transit network and make Tāmaki Makaurau a better place to live.
Rapid transit to the northwest will transform the way people move around the region – making it faster and easier to get to other parts of Auckland no matter how you choose to travel. It will create a better-connected city and provide people with more choice about where they live, work, study and play.
Auckland’s Rapid Transit Network includes the rail network, the Northern Busway and the Eastern Busway. In the coming years it will also have:
- The City Rail Link which will double passenger rail capacity and better connect the Eastern, Western and Southern rail lines into the city.
City Rail Link(external link) - Waitematā Harbour Connections which will provide choices for people wanting to walk, cycle, take the bus, travel by light rail, drive, or transport freight across the Waitematā Harbour.
Waitematā Harbour Connections - An expanded Eastern Busway which will connect Botany and Pakuranga, with rail in Panmure.
Eastern Busway(external link)
Te Tupu Ngātahi Supporting Growth has developed a long-term Strategic Plan for the Northwest which includes a rapid transit corridor from Kumeū to a new interchange at Brigham Creek on SH16 which would connect to the Northwest Rapid Transit project.
Te Tupu Ngātahi Supporting Growth(external link)
Together, these projects will create a better-connected region, provide more transport choice, boost productivity, drive economic growth and create a more reliable and resilient transport network for everyone who calls Tāmaki Makaurau home.
Hikurangi he taonga – the northwest is a treasure
The northwest of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, is an area with a rich and proud history.
The traditional name of this takiwā (district) is Hikurangi – named after the mountain situated at southern Piha. This area is taonga (a treasure) to Te Kawerau ā Maki who are working in partnership with Waka Kotahi on this project which will improve transport equity by providing people with access to more transport choices for generations to come.
Waka Kotahi is incredibly grateful to Te Kawerau ā Maki and our other Iwi partners for sharing their knowledge (mātauranga) of the land, waters and its peoples. We acknowledge their role as kaitiaki (guardians) with responsibility for the protection of te taiao (environment) and taonga tuku iho (heritage).
About Te Kawerau ā Maki
Te Kawerau ā Maki are the tangata whenua (people of the land) of West Auckland.
The Iwi traces its whakapapa (genealogy) back to the first inhabitants of the land – the Tūrehu, on to the first migrants who descended from Kupe-mai-tawhiti and Toi-te-huatahi, and from several ancestral waka of the 14th century in particular the Tainui. Te Kawerau ā Maki descend from the eponymous ancestor Maki who settled the district around 1600, and his son Tawhiakiterangi and his wife Marukiterangi. Their marae lands are at Te Henga (Bethells Beach) and Te Onekiritea (Hobsonville) and operate from Te Kōpua (Henderson).
The project passes through many ancestral places of their rohe from Ngongetepara, Pukewhakataratara, Wai ō Pareira, Ō Rangihina, Wahapu and Te Kou before heading east into the takiwā of Tāmaki.
