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City Centre Bus Plan City Centre Bus Plan

This plan sets out AT’s approach to future planning for buses in Auckland’s city centre. It will help deliver the outcomes of the City Centre Masterplan (opens in new tab).

About the City Centre Bus Plan

The City Centre Bus Plan is Auckland Transport’s response to Auckland Council’s 2020 City Centre Masterplan. It details the plan for the future of bus travel in the city centre.

Around 30,000 people travel by bus to the city centre every morning. This figure is expected to increase by an additional 14,000 people in less than 20 years.

The increase in people choosing to travel by bus means there are now more bus services needing to travel through and stop in the city centre. At the same time, there is increasing demand on all road space in the city centre.

The City Centre Bus Plan aims to meet the needs of a growing city with bus services that are easy to use and efficient to operate.

Plan update

The Bus Plan combines most city centre bus routes into 4 main corridors where buses have priority when moving through the city centre. The plan is being delivered in stages, starting with the infrastructure upgrades required in these corridors.

The first stage is the Wellesley Street Bus Improvements project, between Queen Street and Albert Street. This is already under construction and on track to be completed before City Rail Link’s Te Waihorotiu Station opens in 2026.

The next stage is the Downtown Bus Improvements project (along the Fanshawe Street/Customs Street/Beach Road corridor) which includes creating dedicated bus lanes, upgraded bus shelters and bus layover (parking) facilities. This is also aiming to be completed before the City Rail Link opens in 2026.

Next steps

The Downtown Bus Improvements concept design is nearly completed. Between June and August 2024, we are undertaking a Property Access and Use Study to seek information from stakeholders, property owners, tenants and businesses in the downtown area. We will ask about their access, safety and operational requirements so we can incorporate their needs into the design as best we can.

Between August and September 2024, we expect to be able to share the concept design with stakeholders, property owners, tenants, businesses and the wider public for feedback.

This stage of design is focussing on the street level changes required to introduce dedicated bus lanes and improved bus facilities along the Customs Street corridor. 

Between September and October 2024, we will:

  • review all feedback
  • refine the concept plan for the Downtown Bus Improvements
  • take the plan to the AT Board and New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) for funding approval in early 2025.

Download the City Centre Bus Plan (PDF 6.9MB)

Download the PDF text-only version of the City Centre Bus Plan (PDF 260KB)

Download the Word text-only version of the City Centre Bus Plan (Word 46KB)

Consultation to date

The Bus Plan has been consulted on extensively and endorsed in stages since 2020. The Bus Plan was a key feature of the City Centre Masterplan, which contained Access For Everyone, the transport specific vision for the city. This outlined the core objectives of the bus plan and was very well supported. Learn more about the City Centre Masterplan and Access For Everyone (opens in new tab).

The City Centre Masterplan and the Bus Plan also take direction from the Regional Land Transport Plan (last consulted in 2021, with 2024 consultation analysis underway) and the Regional Public Transport Plan (last consulted in 2023). Both of these plans have had strong support for prioritising investment in a more frequent, efficient, reliable, safe public transport system and speeding up travel times with more bus priority lanes on key routes.

The Regional Land Transport Plan specifically highlighted the City Centre Bus Improvements, City Centre Masterplan and  Access for Everyone in 2021. In 2024 the Regional Land Transport Plan also seeks endorsement to fund and prioritise the specific infrastructure projects needed to deliver the Bus Plan, including the Downtown Bus Improvements project. Learn more about the Regional Land Transport Plan and Regional Public Transport Plan.

With the core objectives endorsed, the next stage was a more detailed engagement with the community and city centre stakeholders in 2021 with the next level of detailed planning. The City Centre Bus Plan outlined how AT would deliver on the City Centre Masterplan and Access for Everyone objectives. It also outlined how we would achieve faster journey times and more frequent, efficient, reliable and safe bus travel to, and through, the city centre as part of an efficient, integrated transport network. In particular, it outlined where the dedicated bus corridors with bus priority lanes would be, changes to city centre routes and off-street bus facilities. Feedback showed that people in general supported the City Centre Bus Plan.

Download the City Centre Bus Plan Consultation Summary and Decisions Report (PDF 271KB)

We will be seeking further feedback from businesses, residents and the wider public later this year.

Contact us

For more information on this strategy, contact us at: projects@at.govt.nz