Auckland Transport Media Release
27 February 2011

Extra public transport for “March madness”

Extra buses will provide up to 170 extra trips a day for ‘March madness’, the busiest time of year for the transport system.

The increase in people travelling in March is related to the return of tertiary students and others trying public transport for the first time. People normally establish regular travel patterns in April, which eases some of the spike in demand.

Auckland Transport and bus companies are providing extra capacity from this week until early April, or longer as required, to manage the higher demand on services. Additional drivers will be on standby in some areas.

Additional bus capacity will be provided on various routes including:
• Mt Eden Rd, Dominion Rd, Remuera Rd, Tamaki Drive, Richmond Rd/Westmere
• Howick and Eastern services as required
• Green Bay to Unitec and other Urban Express services as required
• Birkenhead Transport services in Bayview and on Onewa Rd.

The Northern Express currently has a significantly higher number of services than in early 2011. From 7am – 8am and 5pm – 6pm buses run every three minutes in peak directions and hours of service are longer.

Auckland Transport Public Transport Operations Manager Mark Lambert says the extra services means there is more capacity on popular routes and back up buses available when passenger numbers are high.

“This means it is less likely buses will be overloaded and can’t pick up passengers at stops. It also gives passengers a better experience than travelling on an overcrowded bus.

“March is always our busiest time so we have put in place more services with the support of bus companies to be prepared for it,” Mr Lambert says.

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