The NZ Transport Agency says Auckland motorists have played an important role in minimising disruption from today’s bus strike by changing their usual travel patterns.
The impact on the motorway network for the morning peak was minimal with many people choosing to travel in earlier or leaving their cars behind altogether.
'The usual morning peak started earlier this morning and lasted a little longer, but traffic flows remained steady and some sections of the network were less busy than usual,' says Brett Gliddon, the Transport Agency’s Auckland Highway Manager.
'We really appreciate that people have listened to our advice to do their part by working from home, ride-sharing or using other public transport today, it shows the benefits to the transport network when people adapt their travel to suit the conditions.'
'There were very few incidents, like crashes and breakdowns this morning which can really slow things up, and the incidents we did have were cleared very quickly.'
The NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Transport set up an Incident Management Team working from the Traffic Operations Centre to monitor motorways and local roads and ensure any incidents were cleared as quickly as possible to minimise disruption.
Extra staff are also working to provide real time traffic and travel information to help people plan their journeys to avoid the worst traffic build up and delays.
'We encourage people to continue to use our various travel information services again this afternoon to help them plan the best route and transport mode for their journey home.'
Motorists can get the latest information on highway conditions and hot spots at www.nzta.govt.nz(external link), get free email alerts on a specific route by signing up to www.onthemove.govt.nz(external link) or follow the Transport Agency on Facebook or Twitter.
For local road information and public transport visit: www.at.govt.nz(external link)
