The Busway


What is the Busway?

The Northern Busway is New Zealand’s first two-way busway, and a key part of Auckland’s rapid transit network and North Shore Bus Rapid Transport.  This new 8.7 km road on the eastern side of the Northern Motorway runs from Constellation Drive to the Auckland Harbour Bridge.  It consists of:

  • A 6.24 km two-way road for buses running between Constellation Drive and Esmonde Road with bus stations at Constellation, Sunnynook, Smales Farm and Akoranga. A fifth station with Park and Ride facilities has been established north of the busway at Albany.
  • A single 2.5 km bus lane will run southbound from Akoranga Station to the Auckland Harbour Bridge, with the capacity to extend to a two-way system in the future.

Click here for a map of the busway and stations

The Busway provides a congestion free route for buses travelling to and from the CBD to the North Shore.  The new busway stations allow buses to enter and exit the busway and create attractive, safer places for passengers to connect to services or interchange between routes.  (See Stations)
 
The Busway project also includes improvements to the motorway network  at Esmonde Road Interchange and Onewa Road Interchange on the Northern Motorway (SH1) between Constellation Drive and Esmonde Road.

What are the objectives of the Busway?

Busway project objectives are to:

  • Provide a long-term, viable alternative to car travel to help address congestion on the motorway.
  • Minimise the adverse environmental effects of private motor vehicle use.
  • Increase the person carrying capacity of the Auckland Harbour Bridge and bring the capacity of the northern approaches into balance with the bridge's tidal capacity.
  • Enable HOVs to use the spare peak period capacity on the Auckand Harbour Bridge.
  • Support the transport objectives of the Auckland Regional Growth Strategy, Regional Land Transport Stategy and Passenger Transport Action Plan.
  • Support North Shore City Council's 'City Blueprint' and 'Strategic Plan' related to land use planning and urban form.
  • Improve the overall effectiveness of the passenger transport system and its efficiency through the Auckland Harbour Bridge corridor.
 

What are the Advantages of the Busway?

For public transport users:

  • A high-speed frequent service that bypasses congestion.
  • Reduced journey times.
  • Reliable travel information.
  • Better transfer time between services.
  • Traffic signal priority (once in the city)
  • Boarding and fare collection improvement
  • Modern, safe and attractive stations for vehicles.

For motorists:

  • Better motorway and local connections from Esmonde Road Interchange upgrade.
  • Onewa Road Interchange will improve the separation of buses from general traffic and provide a safer interchange for motorists with new curved on and off-ramps.

For pedestrians and cyclists:

  • Cyclists able to cycle to stations and lock bikes in lockers, before catching a bus.
  • Pedestrians can access stations using new and improved footpaths.
  • Connection to North Shore cycle network.

For the environment:

  • Fewer pollutants (better treatment of existing motorway water run-off) resulting in increased air and water quality.
  • Increased energy efficiency from greater public transport use.
The busway can be converted to light rail, should that option ever be considered in the future.

For more information on Statutory Approvals governing construction, click here

Next Busway map>