Originally Posted by
jasonelsa56
We live in Waiake (Torbay) 2mins from Browns bay. As mentioned you can get the bus from Albany or Constellation bus stations (park and ride) I work 150m from the sky tower. I ride in on a scooter and it takes 25 mins door to door and that's leaving at 7am. Occasionally drive in and that takes 40mins door to door. Personally i think it is just as quick living in browns bay / torbay area as it is closer to the city as you have good access to SH1 further down the bays it can take a long time just getting on the motorway. Takapuna for example it can 20mins just to get on the SH1. + don't get hung up about the bridge, i find at 7:20ish when i cross there are little or no hold ups. The worst traffic i find is after the bridge going past the centre.
Browns bay area is a great place to live don't let the doom and gloom mungers put you off.
At last. Someone with a realistic view of Auckland travel! I travel the route regularly as a professional driver - cross the harbour bridge and much of Auckland and the surrounding areas - as yet I have not really come across any real difficulties. There are obviously 2 times of the day that you need to try and avoid but, even then, the traffic does move. The only problems that seem to occur are when it rains as traffic can build up for some reason. The other issue is when there is some sort of work going on on the roads. This seems to upset the whole flow of things as it would appear that the general Kiwi driver does not like change and finds it hard to adjust to any diversion or change in road layout! This has the effect of drivers maintaining what they believe to be their usual route and getting confused when they have to change lanes etc! The road layout in Manukau City for instance has recently changed with access to the motorway changing from one side of the road to the other. There are huge diversion signs, warnings of road change and large signs indicating which lane to get in - albeit they should have actually put them a little earlier in the road - but this has caused so much confusion its unreal! It is quite funny to watch however.