Whangaparāoa Peninsula - future bus and ferry services

About the project

The opening of O Mahurangi Penlink will be a significant change for the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. AT is therefore reviewing the existing bus and ferry services to see if changes need to be made to benefit more people.

O Mahurangi Penlink will connect Whangaparāoa Road (near Cedar Terrace) and State Highway 1 (near Ara Wēiti Road). The new highway will provide a more direct connection between the peninsula and State Highway 1 by bypassing Silverdale. Bus services that use O Mahurangi Penlink could provide quicker journeys between many parts of the peninsula and the North Shore and City Centre than the existing bus and ferry services.

Public feedback is now closed.

From Monday 4 November until Sunday 1 December 2024, AT invited public feedback on three possible scenarios for future bus and ferry services on the peninsula when O Mahurangi Penlink is open. Scenarios were developed following the 2023-2031 Regional Public Transport Plan public consultation, and discussions with the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board and Albany Ward Councillors.

AT will publish a feedback summary in early 2025.

AT does not expect to make any changes to the public transport network on the peninsula in response to the opening of O Mahurangi Penlink before 2028, when the existing contract to run the Gulf Harbour ferry service ends.

Scenario 1 - Existing buses and ferry run more often than they do today

Map of the bus and ferry routes for Scenario 1

Click on the map to download/view a larger version.

• The Gulf Harbour ferry service would run between the Gulf Harbour Marina and Downtown Ferry Terminal throughout the day on weekdays. At peak commuting times the ferry would run every 30 – 60 minutes.
• The 988 bus service would be timed to connect with the Gulf Harbour ferry, and would serve Whangaparāoa, Little Manly, Army Bay, Shakespear Regional Park, Gulf Harbour and the Gulf Harbour Marina.
• The 982 bus service would connect Gulf Harbour, Army Bay, Little Manly, Whangaparāoa, Brightside Road, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station.
• The 983 bus service would connect Gulf Harbour, Big Manly, Whangaparāoa, Vipond Road, Red Beach, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station.

At Hibiscus Coast Station, customers could transfer to Northern Busway services NX1 and NX2 (and other local bus services) to reach more destinations:

• The NX1 bus service would connect Hibiscus Coast Station, Northern Busway stations and Lower Albert Street throughout the day, seven days a week.
• The NX2 bus service would connect Hibiscus Coast Station with Northern Busway stations, Wellesley Street and City universities at peak commuting times on weekdays.

How often buses and ferries would run

Scenario 2 - NX2 via O Mahurangi Penlink, and frequent 99 bus service between Gulf Harbour and new Whangaparāoa Station

Map of bus routes for Scenario 2

Click on the map to download/view a larger version.

• A new Whangaparāoa Station would be built on Whangaparāoa Road near Cedar Terrace, where customers could transfer between buses to reach more destinations.
• The NX2 bus service would use O Mahurangi Penlink to connect Whangaparāoa Station, Northern Busway stations, Wellesley Street and City universities throughout the day, seven days a week. The NX2 would no longer use Hibiscus Coast Station as it does today.
• A new frequent bus service, the 99, would connect Gulf Harbour, Army Bay, Little Manly, Whangaparāoa and Whangaparāoa Station. Buses would run at least every 15 minutes, from 7am until 7pm, seven days a week. (Buses would run in the early morning and evening, just less often.)
• The 982 bus service would connect the Manly shops, Little Manly, Whangaparāoa, Brightside Road, Whangaparāoa Station, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station.
• The 983 bus service would connect Manly shops, Big Manly, Whangaparāoa, Whangaparāoa Station, Vipond Road, Red Beach, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station.
• Shakespear Regional Park would not be served.
• The NX1 bus service would connect Hibiscus Coast Station, Northern Busway stations and Lower Albert Street throughout the day, seven days a week.

How often buses would run

Scenario 3 - Gulf Harbour ferry service, and frequent 99 bus service between Gulf Harbour and Hibiscus Coast Station

Map of bus and ferry routes for Scenario 3

Click on the map to download/view a larger version.

• The Gulf Harbour ferry service would connect the Gulf Harbour Marina and the Downtown Ferry Terminal throughout the day on weekdays. At peak commuting times, the ferry would run every 30 – 60 minutes.
• The 988 bus service would be timed to connect with the Gulf Harbour ferry, and would serve Whangaparāoa, Little Manly, Army Bay, Gulf Harbour and the Gulf Harbour Marina.
• A new frequent bus service, the 99, would run the length of the peninsula, connecting Gulf Harbour, Army Bay, Little Manly, Whangaparāoa, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station. Buses would run at least every 15 minutes, from 7am until 7pm, seven days a week. (Buses would run in the early morning and evening, just less often.)
• The 982 bus service would connect Manly shops, Little Manly, Whangaparāoa, Brightside Road, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station.
• The 983 bus service would connect Manly shops, Big Manly, Whangaparāoa, Vipond Road, Red Beach, Silverdale and Hibiscus Coast Station.
• Shakespear Regional Park would not be served.

At Hibiscus Coast Station, customers could transfer to Northern Busway services NX1 and NX2 (and other local bus services) to reach more destinations:

• NX1 would serve Hibiscus Coast Station, Northern Busway stations and Lower Albert Street throughout the day, seven days a week.
• NX2 would serve Hibiscus Coast Station, Northern Busway stations, Wellesley Street and City universities at peak commuting times on weekdays.

How often buses and ferries would run

Example journeys

Use the tables below to compare how long your usual journeys could take in future, using public transport, during the weekday morning peak under each of the different scenarios. The morning peak is from 7am until 9am. Journey times include any transfers, waiting between services, and walking at the start and end of each journey.

The journey times are estimates for the year 2031. They take into account forecasted changes in traffic levels and journey times due to ongoing growth on the Hibiscus Coast and in Rodney. The journey times are based on:

• Timetables for the 982, 983, 988 and NX1 buses and the Gulf Harbour ferry.
• For Scenario 2, we’ve assumed NX2 buses will travel at an average speed of 60 kilometres per hour on O Mahurangi Penlink.
• Forecasted changes in journey times for traffic and buses from 2018 to 2031. These come from the Auckland Forecasting Centre’s transport model. The model accounts for expected future land use changes, and associated changes in travel demand and journey times. For all scenarios the model assumes there are no additional bus priority measures, no toll on O Mahurangi Penlink, and no ‘time of use’ charges. For Scenario 2, the model predicts the impact of not having the Gulf Harbour ferry service.

For scenarios 1 and 3, we have assumed the ferry will take an average of 50 minutes to sail from Gulf Harbour to the Downtown Ferry Terminal, as it does today. In future, new ferry technology may make this quicker. However, AT has not identified the vessels that would be used to run this service if it continues beyond the end of the existing contract (in 2028). Therefore, we have not been able to meaningfully adjust the ferry portions of the relevant journey times in the tables below. Based on the ferry technology currently available, estimated times for a ferry to sail from Gulf Harbour to the Downtown Ferry Terminal are between 45 and 53 minutes.

Journeys from Whangaparāoa Library - corner of Whangaparāoa Road and Main Street

Journeys from Manly shops

Journeys from corner of Whangaparāoa Road and Gulf Harbour Drive

Other factors to consider

Public transport fares

An external review of our wider public transport fare structure is underway. This will result in fare increases for all mid and outer harbour ferry services, including the Gulf Harbour ferry service.

This will reduce the per passenger subsidy for these ferry services to a level more comparable with other public transport services elsewhere in Auckland.

Additionally, AT will continue to review public transport fares each year to help cover the cost of running, maintaining and improving the network.

Some customers may need to make additional transfers

Customers currently using the NX2 to travel to and from Hibiscus Coast Station may need to make an additional transfer to complete their journeys under Scenario 2. Under Scenario 2:

• The NX2 would serve Whangaparāoa Station via O Mahurangi Penlink.
• The NX2 would no longer serve Hibiscus Coast Station. Customers would need to use the NX1 to travel to or from Hibiscus Coast Station, and change to or from the NX2 at a Northern Busway station.

O Mahurangi Penlink bus shoulder lanes

When O Mahurangi Penlink opens it will have one general traffic lane in each direction. It will be future proofed to include bus shoulder lanes – these would allow AT buses to bypass any congestion in the general traffic lanes.

The bus shoulder lanes will not be available when the new highway first opens. At this time, it is not known when the bus shoulder lanes would be available to AT buses.

Where are people travelling to?

In the 2018 Census, the most common journey to work was a local journey within the peninsula (36%). The next most popular destination was Albany/Rosedale on the North Shore (17%).

Journey to work from Whangaparāoa according to the 2018 Census

Similarly, the most common journey to education in the 2018 Census was a local journey within the peninsula (65%). The next most popular destination was Ōrewa (10%).

Journey to Education from Whangaparāoa according to the 2018 Census

It is therefore important for the public transport network to enable easy journeys within the peninsula.

Population growth and land use changes

It is important that the capacity of the local public transport network can increase as the local population grows, and more people are drawn to the area for work, study and recreation.

It is easier to increase the capacity of a bus service than a ferry service. This is because new buses are significantly less expensive than new ferries, and bus service operators can often increase the capacity of a bus service by using larger buses or reorganising resources to run buses more often.

It is not guaranteed that the necessary funding would be available to invest in additional buses and ferries in future.

What we asked for feedback on

We wanted respondents to tell us how their journeys would be affected, both positively and negatively, under the different scenarios.

They could suggest how the different scenarios could be improved. For example, they could suggest we change the bus routes or how often the buses and ferries run, or suggest a place for a new bus stop.

We asked for feedback on the three possible scenarios for future bus and ferry services. Feedback on how the existing bus and ferry services were running was outside the scope of this project, but was referred to the relevant teams within AT.

AT did not seek public feedback on a scenario that includes both of the following:

• A frequent NX2 serving a new Whangaparāoa Station via O Mahurangi Penlink throughout the day, seven days a week; and
• The Gulf Harbour ferry service running throughout the day, seven days a week.

The operating cost of such a network would exceed the available budget, which has already been set for the next ten years.

Because no funding has been identified for future rail infrastructure on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, we weren't able to consider requests for light rail or heavy rail.

Feedback on the design and proposed operation of O Mahurangi Penlink was referred to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

Public feedback is now closed

Public feedback closed on Sunday 1 December 2024.

There were five public drop-in sessions for this project:

What happens next

AT will prepare a Feedback Summary which we will make public in 2025.

Your feedback will become part of the Whangaparāoa Public Transport Study.

The study investigates the public transport needs of the peninsula in detail, and will identify a proposed future public transport network for the peninsula when O Mahurangi Penlink is open.

The proposed future public transport network will be included in the draft 2025 – 2034 Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP). You will be able to give your feedback on the proposed network in the RPTP public consultation in 2025.

AT does not expect to make any changes to the public transport network on the peninsula as a result of the study before 2028, when the existing contract to run the Gulf Harbour ferry service ends.

Let’s keep in touch

If you’d like to be kept up to date regarding this public engagement and the Whangaparāoa Public Transport Study, please email WPStudy@AT.govt.nz.

We won’t use your email address for any other purpose.