Local transport options include bus, train, ferry, shuttle, taxi, and car rental. Use the Auckland Transport (AT) website to plan trips by public transport. AT also has a text messaging service that can be used to find the time of the next bus, ferry or train or to find the quickest way to get to your destination using public transport, as well as apps for iPhone and Android. If you wish to do a lot of cross-city travel or travel outside the city, it may be more convenient to hire a car, though some city roads are congested at peak times.

Britomart Transport Centre on the corner of Queen St and Customs St in the CBD near the waterfront is the main information center for public transport. You will find the free bus, train and ferry schedules there – which is handy since the frequency of some services is low and sometimes irregular. Timetables can also be downloaded from the AT website.

The AT HOP card is a prepaid smart card for travel on bus, train and ferry services.

For frequent travel on buses and trains, monthly passes can be loaded on a HOP card. These give unlimited bus (except Niterider) and train travel in defined zones. You must tag on and tag off each trip. Zone A covers the central Auckland isthmus, extending to New Lynn in the west and Otahuhu in the south.

By bus

Bus is the most-used form of public transport. Buses to popular destinations usually run every 5–15 mins. For example, Kelly Tarlton's and

Mission Bay

buses (numbers 745–769) run at least every 15 min Monday to Saturday, though much less frequently Sunday.

If you don't mind a 5–10 min walk to a bus stop you can get by without a car. However, buses are not always reliable, especially during peak hours. Delays of up to 15 min are common on some routes. Buses are a slow way to travel long distances, and travel is remarkably more difficult going across town than on the main north-south route. Consider taking a train or ferry where they are available. If you are traveling to less frequented areas or outer suburbs be prepared for long travel times and long wait periods (30+ min) between services.

The bus companies that run to different parts of Auckland are:

• Central Auckland – Metrolink (includes the City Link, Inner Link, and Outer Link), Urban Express
• North Harbour (North Shore and Hibiscus Coast) – North Star, Ritchies, and Birkenhead Transport
• West Auckland – Go West, and Ritchies
• South Auckland – Waka Pacific
• East Auckland – Howick & Eastern

The Inner Link bus services the CBD and the surrounding areas of Newmarket, Parnell, and Ponsonby. The City Link bus runs in a circuit from Karangahape Rd/Upper Queen St to Britomart or the Wynyard Quarter.

The Northern Express (NEX) provides a bus rapid transit service from Britomart alongside the Northern Motorway to Albany busway station on the North Shore, with some services continuing to Hibiscus Coast busway station (or rather, the site of the future Hibiscus Coast busway station). It operates at least every 15 minutes weekdays and daytime weekends (services at peak can be as little as 3 minutes apart).

Most bus services run to and from the CBD, and there are relatively few cross-town buses. It might sometimes be faster (and more convenient) to take a bus into the city to take another bus out! If you want to get around the same area easily, you can take a bus to a hub or interchange that a lot of buses run through, to connect to another bus. The bigger bus hubs include (but are not limited to):

• Takapuna on the North Shore
• Bus stations on the North Shore
• Otahuhu in South Auckland
• New Lynn in West Auckland

Most bus stops that are frequently used have displays showing the times the next buses arrive. These are fairly reliable but do not place all your faith in them – sometimes the signs display that a bus has come and gone, and then several minutes later the bus arrives.

By train

Travel by urban train is a good option, but only if you are near a train line; there are few lines and not all suburbs are served. Rail in Auckland has had a renaissance since the turn of the century, especially after the central city terminus moved to Britomart in 2003. During 2014 and 2015 new electric trains have progressively replaced diesel trains, except between Papakura and Pukekohe in the south, where diesels still run.

An AT HOP card provides tag-on/tag-off travel.

The four main lines are the Southern, Onehunga, Eastern and Western lines. The Southern Line runs from Britomart station in the CBD, roughly parallel to the Southern Motorway, to Papakura, with some services continuing on to Pukekohe. The Onehunga Line follows the Southern Line as far as Penrose, before diverting southwest to Onehunga. The Eastern Line runs from Britomart through the east of central Auckland to Manukau Central, sharing with the Southern Line between Westfield and Puhinui. The Western Line runs from Britomart westward to Swanson station. There are no train services in North Harbour or in the suburbs east of the Tamaki River, although the Northern Express bus (see By bus above) from Britomart to Albany provides rapid transit service to the rail-less North Shore.

The Southern and Eastern lines have the most frequent and reliable services. Trains on these lines run every 10 minutes on-peak, 20 minutes off-peak and 30 minutes on evenings and weekends. Approximately 85-95% of these services run on time. Trains on the Western Line run every 15 minutes on-peak, and every 30 minutes off-peak and on weekends. The Onehunga Line runs every 30 minutes all day every day.

By car

The road network experiences severe congestion at rush hour. Geography constrains the network to a limited number of routes. Auckland has a comprehensive road network for a city its size, but lack of investment in public transport and geographic sprawl means it is largely dependent on private cars.

It is often easier and cheaper to hire a car instead of using taxis, simply because the city is so large and spread out. Auckland city is well covered by the main global car rental companies, such as Avis, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, and Europcar. All car rental companies offer competitive pricing for economy class vehicles and unlimited mileage options. Local car rental companies like Apex and Jucy may also offer competitive pricing.

There are three main motorway systems running through Auckland. The Northern Motorway (from north of Orewa to the Central Motorway Junction (CMJ) a.k.a. Spaghetti Junction) – note that it has a toll for the last few kilometers beyond Silverdale. The Southern Motorway runs from the CMJ past the Bombay Hills where it splits into State Highway 2 (SH2), and merges to the Waikato Expressway. The Northwestern Motorway runs from Auckland Port through CMJ to near Kumeu. These motorways clog up during the morning rush in the CBD-bound direction, and in the opposite direction during the evening rush. The Harbour Bridge has a method of mitigating this traffic load – it changes the lane system from 4-4 to 5-3, favoring the side which has a heavier traffic load. So be careful when crossing the bridge – some lanes will be available for you at one time but not another.

Watch heading southbound over the Harbour Bridge – if you are heading to the Southern Motorway (e.g. to South Auckland or the Airport), make sure you are in at least lane 3 (if not lane 4) before you reach the bridge to ensure you go over on the main bridge and not the clip-on lanes. Otherwise, you will have only a few hundred meters after the bridge to cross two lanes of traffic to lane 4 before lane 1, 2 and 3 split off towards the city center and the Northwestern Motorway.

Some motorway on-ramps have traffic lights operating in busy periods – they allow one or two cars to proceed every three to eight seconds to ease the merging onto the motorway. Cameras may be operating to catch red-light runners.

By taxi

Taxi fares vary considerably from company to company. For example, see the Get in: By plane section for an indication of fares from the airport to Britomart.

By ferry

Ferry services operate from the CBD to other points on the mainland and to Hauraki Gulf islands.