Auckland Central Transit Corridor

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The Auckland Central Transit Corridor or Central Transit Corridor (CTC) is a proposed new transit link for buses (and later on, potentially light rail^[1]) between the Britomart Transport Centre in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, and the commercial-centre suburb of Newmarket. The associated bus priority measures and new routes are to improve service times by about 14 minutes between Britomart and Newmarket for about 65,000 commuters daily^[2] and the corridor will be travelled by 2,600 buses per day.^[3] The works are expected to cost around NZ$ 46 million and are to be finished in 2009.^[4]

The route (external link, Auckland City Council) will go from Britomart via Symonds Street to Karangahape Road and then over Grafton Bridge to the Khyber Pass Road in Newmarket. On its way, it passes through the Auckland University campus areas and by the Auckland City Hospital and the Auckland Domain, all important public transport destinations.

The project will close Grafton Bridge to traffic during the day, as the bridge becomes reserved for public transport (functioning identically to a bus lane during 7am-7pm). In the process of the works, most of the streets along the route will also receive substantial overhauls, with for example, relaid footpaths along substantial lengths. Many pedestrian crossings will be improved and enlarged, especially around the university. The changes will also include the closure of Alfred Street (a side street of Symonds Street on the corridor route, currently bisecting the university campus in that area), to all traffic except Link and City Circuit buses from the end of 2006,^[5] as well as add new canopies over footpaths in the University areas.^[4]