The Government has announced that New Zealand is now at Covid-19 Alert Level 3 and that we will move to Alert Level 4 at 11.59pm on Wednesday, 25 March 2020.

This means:

• In alignment with new national policy while at Alert Level 4, all public transport (bus, trains and ferries) contracted by AT will be free from the morning of Thursday, 26 March.
• From 11.59pm on Wednesday, 25 March 2020 public transport services will only be available for those working in essential services, for medical reasons, to access essential services including get to the supermarket, and to move essential goods. For details on what is considered an essential service visit https://covid19.govt.nz/government-actions/covid-19-alert-level/
• While travel will be free people should continue to tag on and off using their AT HOP card. This will allow Auckland Transport to monitor passenger numbers and make fast adjustments to services if required due to changes in demand.
• Essential workers may be asked, while travelling, to show who they work for. Where practical people should carry some form of identification showing who they are, who they work for, and their job (e.g. a business card, letter from their employer, or other work ID).

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says it’s critical that Aucklanders adhere to the new rules.

“The lockdown that begins tomorrow night is unprecedented in our history but absolutely necessary to ensure we can shut down the route of transmission and protect our communities.

“Every Aucklander must comply with the rules, stay home, self-isolate and only use public transport if needed to perform essential work, or to access essential services.

“The better we self-isolate, the sooner the government will be able to ease some of the restrictions.”

People must continue to use the rear door to get on and off the bus. This is to ensure everyone is kept as safe as possible by minimising the physical contact between customers and the bus drivers.

• From early Thursday morning, trains, buses and ferries contracted by AT will also run to a reduced timetable, similar to the usual weekend service timetable. We are working with our operators to finalise these timetables which will be made available on https://at.govt.nz/COVID-19 by the end of Tuesday, 24 March 2020. Note: some key ferry services such as those to Waiheke and Devonport are not contracted or managed by AT and different arrangements may apply.
• All AT construction sites are being made safe and secure by our contractors and will be closed from 11.59pm on Wednesday, 25 March 2020. These sites will be regularly monitored for health and safety. Only work related to maintaining essential services and critical infrastructure and to address immediate and short-term safety issues (e.g. emergency maintenance work) will be undertaken by Auckland Transport until the alert level is reduced by the Government.
• Traffic volumes are expected to be relatively light due to the number of businesses closing and people staying indoors. Therefore, traffic signalling will be managed to give priority access to hospitals and other essential services.
• AT’s upcoming public Board meeting, due to be held on Thursday (March 26), has been postponed to a later date and Directors are continuing to closely monitor the emerging issues and impacts of COVID-19.

This is a challenging time for us all. We ask that people be understanding and patient of everyone else who is in the same situation until this global issue can be brought under control.

Remember that the best place to find the latest information about the COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is on the Government’s special COVID-19 website: https://covid19.govt.nz/

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