More and more drivers are leaving their cars at home in the face of higher fuel prices, latest figures shows.
Monitoring at key traffic points in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch shows that thousands fewer trips are being made every day.
Nearly 12,000 fewer trips were made each day on Auckland's harbour bridge in May, compared with the same month a year ago. That is a drop of seven percent.
While in Wellington, nearly 3,000 fewer trips were made through the Ngoronga Gorge - a three percent decrease.
There were 679 fewer trips on Christchurch's Cranford Street bottleneck, while Dunedin had a similar drop in traffic.
Hamilton was the exception, with no change in the habits of drivers.
With more cars left at home, demand for public transport is picking up.
Passengers on Auckland's North Shore Express Services have surged by up to 60 percent, while some Wellington routes are up 30 percent.
Transit New Zealand says it is too early to know if New Zealanders are leaving their cars at home for good. So it is not about to rush in and change its road building plans. It wants to see a consistent trend for at least a year before it will act.
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