[BoroCraig]

Hi,

Could anyone tell me when the rush hour starts in Auckland? I think we will be living North of Auckland but will be working from an office on the South side of the Bridge. I'm used to driving upto an hour to get to work so would like to know when it starts so as to avoid it. Also, the reverse - getting back across the bridge to go home?

One other thing, car parking - what does it cost to park the car for the day around the South Shore area (Pitt Street if anyone knows it)?

Many Thanks

[gil]

Hi BoroCraig,

Can't answer precisely as I live in south-east auckland, but yesterday had a meeting at 06.30 in CBD, called for that ungodly hour by the other party who lives up near Whangaparoa (sp?) and wanted to avoid the rush hour....

Car parking in Sky City (closest car park to my office) is about $30 a day. Luckily, I now have free parking in the one under my office building!

Gil

PS when I arrived at my office 06.25 for that meeting, I got a call to say the other person had overslept!! :wah

[KerryS]

There isn't a South Shore area of Auckland? Pitt St is in Newton.
There is on street parking on the local residential streets - I can't think of any public car parks in the vicinity, but if working for one of the companies along there, many of them have their own staff car parks under the buildings.

It's not really possible to comment on the commute, as each area is very different. But the bridge is notorious for congestion in rush hour into and out of the city.

[CityBlue]

I work in Pitt Street in the CBD and live on the North Shore (Browns Bay)
25Km door to door.

My contracted hours are 8:30 to 5pm. I usually leave the house by 06:45 and arrive in Pitt st at 07:15 - 07:30 depending on traffic. That way I can do 'overtime' in the morning and leave about 16:30. If I leave at 16:30 I am home by 17:05 to 17:30 latest. If for any reason I do not leave before 16:50, it is usually easier for me to stay in work until gon 17:20 just to give the traffic a chance to clear the chaotic 5pm rush. Its amazing how much of a difference 20 mins can make.

Parking is not easy near pitt st and it is best if your work has a carpark you can use. There are pay carparks around though I'm not sure how much per day.

Hope this helps - but I suppose it depends on how flexible you and your hours are.

feel free to ask any other questions you have - I will help if I can

[CityBlue]

Also - I just had a thought that you have to 'learn' which motorway on ramps are best for beating the traffic.

for example. I avoid the closest on ramp to my work because the motorway narrows from 3 lanes to 2 and the people joining add to the mess and there are motorway on ramp signals which only let one car through at a time.

I drive 3 mins round the corner and join where the motorway is wider and does not have on ramp signals.

[Familyofmonkeys]

We live in Albany on North Shore. OH leaves about 6.45am as it gets really busy after 7am. In the afternoon traffic coming over the bridge starts to get heavy at about 3.30pm and by 5pm it is awful. Most people we know here start work really early and finish early too...so they can get over the bridge before the rush starts.

As for parking, you can get early bird parking (i.e. before 8am arrival) in quite a few car parks for about $8 to $12 per day. But, a considerable number of people in North Shore use the buses as it works out far cheaper. OH pays $135 per month for the bus and travels from the Park & Ride near the stadium. There are buses every 7 minutes now and the service runs from very early until very late into the evening, plus it only takes 20-25 minutes into town now the new bus lanes are all open.

[BoroCraig]

Thanks everyone - I'm used to early starts so will check with employer to see if i can start early, leave early too. I regularly leave home here at 5.30am and get home around 6.30pm however this is one of many reasons why we are moving so I don't want want to get in the same rut.

Hardest problem is figuring out where we will want to live (I'm sure that's been the same for everyone). We where looking at the Hibiscus Coast upto Orewa/Gulf Harbour but will look closer to Auckland too - all depends on rental costs really.

Anyway, I'll stop babbling.

Thanks to all

[CJ22]

Rental costs seem to go from around $500 per week close to the bridge to about $350 per week as you get to the furthest extremes of North Shore City. The size of the property doesn't seem to make much difference, as far as I can see. This over-simplifies it a bit. For example, properties closer to the bridge but in out-of-the-way places not near to the trunk roads will generally be cheaper. And there are obvious hot-spots where the prices start to get outrageous. But, depending on you family size, you're probably looking at between $400-$500 per week in NSC.

My boss-to-be mentioned that there's now a dedicated bus-lane from NSC to the CBD, so bus travel may well be the quickest way if you're based in the CBD. We're looking at living close to a ferry terminal, but more because it would be cool :)

[CityBlue]

After my original posts, I have to say I am trying the new bus lane for the next 2 weeks so I will let you know how I get on.

so far I have got the bus at 06:50 to 07:15 (just north of Browns bay) and been dropped off in CBD by 07:30 to 07:40. Very clean and comfortable - and I can read my book all the way!!.

(I am toying with the idea of banking the money we have for a second car and using the bus daily - might feel different in winter :) )

[Familyofmonkeys]

(I am toying with the idea of banking the money we have for a second car and using the bus daily - might feel different in winter :) )

That is exactly what we are doing. So far OH has had no bad experiences of buses. Even if one is slightly late, they are so frequent he has never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus. Even in winter, you could always get a small run around car and get bus from the park & ride.....better than having to drive into town in all the traffic and saves on car parking too.

[BoroCraig]

Park and Ride - could you please clarify if there is one, where it is and whether buses go across the bridge to the South Shore from there.

Also, can anyone please tell me if buses run as far as from Gulf Harbour and whether it would end up much cheaper/quicker than getting the ferry to Auckland?

thanks,
Craig

[snailandthewhale]

I can't give you any specific answers, but, there is a handy journey planner on www.maxx.co.nz
I found it very helpful, buses, trains, ferries and prices.
K

[KerryS]

Park and Ride - could you please clarify if there is one, where it is and whether buses go across the bridge to the South Shore from there.

Also, can anyone please tell me if buses run as far as from Gulf Harbour and whether it would end up much cheaper/quicker than getting the ferry to Auckland?

thanks,
Craig


As Snail and the Whale said, the details of the Northern Busway are all on the Maxx website. There is a map of the route, which shows the first station is Albany, and the final destination is Britomart in the CBD.

If you're going to be based in Gulf Harbour then I would recommend the ferry, as there is only one road in and out of the penninsula, which gets very busy in the rush hour. (No idea on the time it would take to reach Albany though.)

[Familyofmonkeys]

As Snail and the Whale said, the details of the Northern Busway are all on the Maxx website. There is a map of the route, which shows the first station is Albany, and the final destination is Britomart in the CBD.

If you're going to be based in Gulf Harbour then I would recommend the ferry, as there is only one road in and out of the penninsula, which gets very busy in the rush hour. (No idea on the time it would take to reach Albany though.)

It takes about 40 miutes to get from Gulf Harbour to Albany. We considered living there, but as the ferries are infrequent outside of peak commuter travel times we didn't. If OH worked late he might miss the last ferry back. There are buses from the peninsula to CBD too, but the journey is quite a long one.

Oh...and the park and ride I was talking about is at Albany. It is all very new, plenty of parking and seems pretty safe too. As far as I am aware there does not seem to be much car crime.

[BoroCraig]

Thanks for the info - didn't realise it would take that long to get to Albany, back to the drawing board maybe! Does anybody live or has visited places along the Hibiscus Coast e.g. Brown's Bay etc and recommend them? I know it is all personal preference but it is still useful to know whether a place is quiet, busy, laid back, plenty going on etc.

Cheers,

Craig

[Familyofmonkeys]

Thanks for the info - didn't realise it would take that long to get to Albany, back to the drawing board maybe! Does anybody live or has visited places along the Hibiscus Coast e.g. Brown's Bay etc and recommend them? I know it is all personal preference but it is still useful to know whether a place is quiet, busy, laid back, plenty going on etc.

Cheers,

Craig

Brown's Bay is about 2 minutes drive from Albany.....on most maps it is classified as Upper East coast Bays (rather than hibiscus coast). There are quite a few forumites in the area, and certainly plenty of Brits in the area. IMO it is a very nice family area, although the shopping area can be rather busy at times......probably as it is practically on he beach, and all the cafes etc are there so very nice atmosphere.

[mgbridges]

We live in Browns Bay and are enjoying it and personal I find it pretty quiet, but then we used to live in London! It is an area that is popular with UK and South African ex pats (don't know if that makes a difference to you). Some people say there are a lot of sub-divisions so houses are close to each other but we don't feel that is the case. The shopping area has pretty much everything you could ask for and as familyofmonkeys says Albany is a stones throw away. The beach is lovely, has a grassy area between it and the road/shops, kids playground and skateboard park, the boardwalk and parking facilities are also being done up at the moment which will make it a really nice beach to walk along.

OH commutes either to Takapuna or Queen St using the bus and doesn't find it too much of a chore or hassle. With the opening of the new busway some of the local routes have been changed around and there is some 'bedding down' to be done but I think its made a difference to how fast his commute is. He generally leaves the house a little before 7.30pm and is in Takapuna by 8.00am. If he leaves the office in Takapuna at 5pm he is usually home by 5.45pm. Its been a while since he has had to regularly commute into Queen St in the city but I think the last time he did it took about 35mins.

HTH, any more questions just ask. It would also be worth doing a search as I'm sure there has been much discussion about the North Shore before.

Anneliese

[CityBlue]

Thanks for the info - didn't realise it would take that long to get to Albany, back to the drawing board maybe! Does anybody live or has visited places along the Hibiscus Coast e.g. Brown's Bay etc and recommend them? I know it is all personal preference but it is still useful to know whether a place is quiet, busy, laid back, plenty going on etc.

Cheers,

Craig

Browns Bay is not Hibiscus coast but is a lovely place to live.

Has all the shops you need (3 supermarkets, a couple of butchers, several grocers, bookshops, petshops, barbers, pubs, cafes, clothes shops, and the obligatory 2 dollar shop :))

good transport links to albany or city, has a nice beach, a skate park and grassy area for picnics etc

[daygloweyes]

I love all the info in this thread - it's been a wealth of information regarding on where to live and transportation options. I think I'll have to take the bus, etc. while I save up for a car if I don't have enough money to bring with me to buy one. :)